During a press conference prior to the below 1-on-1 interview, Emma Stone said she believes the reason Revlon chose her to be one of its newest spokesmodels is because she represents a more natural, everyday form of beauty and not some glamorous, unobtainable, supermodel version of it. Whatever helps you sleep at night, sister. At the same time, I understand what she's saying. But what makes Stone so down-to-earth isn't her looks; it's her refreshing, casual personality that just radiates off the screen and in person.
Since her memorable film debut in SUPERBAD, Stone has been on a streak of memorable roles (even if the movies weren't that memorable) in such film as THE ROCKER, THE HOUSE BUNNY, ZOMBIELAND, EASY A, FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS, CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE, and THE HELP. In THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, she takes on the pivotal, fan-favorite role of Gwen Stacy, and her scenes with Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker are the centerpiece of the movie. (If you are not aware of Stacy's storyline from the original comic books, you may want to avoid this interview.)
Next up for Stone is what appears to be one of the only sizable female roles in GANGSTER SQUAD (from her ZOMBIELAND director Ruben Fleischer), to be released in early September. But for now, please kick back and enjoy the charms of Emma Stone…
Capone: Hello. It’s good to meet you.
Emma Stone: It’s nice to meet you.
Capone: I just got done talking to Marc [Webb, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN director] and I was telling him like I’m old enough to have read the Spider-Man books from the '70s on, and Gwen Stacy was always a fan favorite--so much so that they keep finding excuses to bring her back. Why do you think she has been so enduring?
ES: [Whispering] I think she's his true love.
Capone: That’s why Peter likes her. Why do you think the fans dig her so much?
ES: I think it’s because she is so different from Peter. They are such opposites in so many ways, but they connect on quite a few levels, as intellectual equals, and I think there’s something really special about their relationship. She comes from this more stable background and from this totally different side of the tracks than Peter. I don’t know, there is something about her and the way they connect that endures.
Capone: Yeah. She might be the most emotionally stable person in the comic books too. I wonder if that has something to do with it, that grounding force.
ES: Probably. She’s a real grounding force for Peter, isn’t she?
Capone: I love your speech, where she talks about not wanting to date him, because it’s kind of like dating her father becaus their jobs are similar. That’s a great scene and a very real thing that a person might say in a relationship like that.
ES: Absolutely. She was unwittingly drawn to a man that does the same thing as her father, which she could’ve known, because the first scene where they connect in the movie is where he is standing up someone who's being bullied, so he is displaying those heroic qualities early on, so of course there’s something there that’s drawing her in.
Capone: What I loved about seeing you on the screen is that this is the Gwen Stacy I remember reading into her earliest incarnation, just in terms of the look, like the boots and the miniskirts and the headband with the bangs. Can you talk about piecing that together?
ES: Well that was to the credit of [costume designer] Kym Barrett, Ve Neill [makeup department head], and Kathrine Gordon [head of the hair department]. Hair, makeup and wardrobe were really focused I think on making Gwen feel as authentically Gwen as possible, and I know Avi Arad would flip out any time I wore that headband. He was so excited, because he’s like “That’s Gwen!” when I was wearing the black headband. But yeah, I think that Kim especially did an amazing job of bringing those costumes from being just purely comic booky to translating into real, modern-day high school, which I thought was really great, but she still definitely has that comic book element to the way that she dresses.
Capone: Yeah. Are you worried they are going to be faithful to her storyline from the comic book?
ES: Yeah, I hope so.
Capone: Including her eventual fate?
ES: Yeah, of course. That’s 70 percent of why I wanted to play Gwen.
Capone: When that issue hit the stands, it sent shockwaves through so much of the world.
ES: It was like a huge pop-culture definitive moment, yeah. I mean it was probably one of the most shocking comic book moments in history, wasn’t it? Nobody was expecting that.
Capone: Yeah. I remember even all of the debates that were sparked about how she died. Was it because of the fall or did the Green Goblin kill her? I remember in a letters page like three issues after she died of them saying, “No, Spider-Man killed her.”
ES: I know, and that I think is one of the most fascinating things I’ve ever heard. I was truly floored by that and I absolutely adored that, for a hero to have made that kind of mistake in trying to save someone. I think it’s a very true depiction of what Captain Stacy says in our movie, which is “You're going to hurt people.” Sometimes being a hero hurts people, and that’s why he wants Peter to stay away from Gwen. Then to have that be the outcome is so heart breaking and so insanely resonant. I loved that, as morbid and awful as that sounds.
Capone: You said Laura [Ziskin, producer] talked to you about this character it first and convinced you to do it. We talked about what the fans like about Gwen, but what was it about her that you said, “Okay, I can work with that. I can build on that”?
ES: GThat element of falling in love for the first time was so huge for me, that kind of connection that she and Peter have and that being a confidante. I also really responded to her being, in our version at least, the oldest child in the family and feeling that level of responsibility and almost that masculine way of taking that on, because her father stares into the face of death all of the time, and she has only brothers-- this is just in our version, not necessarily in the comics.
But the reason she's head intern [at OsCorp], the reason she's valedictorian, she has this need to be in control, need to be in charge and have everything be okay. She is stable, but she was probably reared that way and she is also willing to be a hero, because she was raised by her father. So she's willing to stand up for Peter and to stand up for her father and risk her own fate in our movie, to save their lives and to save the city. So she has these heroic elements to her, which I really responded to, and ultimately she is the pinnacle of a damsel in distress at the end of the day.
Capone: She really is part hero here, isn't she?
ES: I know, and that’s what is so incredible about her, because she's human. She's human, and I think that that’s beautifully. I think a lot of times in movies, they can be so one dimensional, like [In a ditsy voice] "She is just awesome and she’s so strong and that’s all." She is completely fleshed out. She has all of it. She's just like a real human being. She’s a damsel in distress and a hero.
Capone: The idea that Peter gives over his identity to her fairly early on in their relationship…
ES: He trusts her so quickly.
Capone: He does it on the first day they kiss. I firmly believe a teenage superhero would do that. He would want to share that with somebody, because he’s a bundle of nervous energy. What did you think about just having to play a high school student again and going back to being a teenager?
ES: I thought it was fantastic. I was so excited. I mean as long as they will let me play high school I’m not going to complain, you know? I’ve got nowhere to go but older, so you don’t want to age yourself before you have to. But I’m sure they will probably put that high school thing to beg after they see me in 3-D, IMAX. [laughs] I think it’s pretty clear that I ain’t 17 anymore, yeah.
Capone: I see so many movies and TV shows were people in their 20s are playing high school students, I don’t even know what high school students look like anymore.
ES: I know! What do high school students look like?
Capone: I don’t know. Whenever I see a high school student, I always think they look like they are in junior high or something.
ES: Babies, I know. Me too.
Capone: The other scene that kind of resonated with me was early one when she does see Peter bullied a couple of times and that somehow draws her to him. Is she protective of him?
ES: Absolutely. I think there’s a protective quality to her when it comes to a lot of people, because her father is a hero and because he is police chief, she believes in right and wrong and a sense of duty, and that’s something clearly that she sees in Peter and that resonates with her on whatever level where you can sense the other person’s integrity. I think that’s why they connect so quickly.
Capone: You talked a little bit about the chemistry test you did with Andrew and wanting to make that happen. And Marc said he “casts in pairs,” almost making it seem like if the chemistry for one of you didn’t work, that might mean that neither of you would get cast. What you remember about that day?
ES: It was incredible. I met Andrew that day, and it was just… Chemistry is one of those indefinable things. I instantly knew he was one of the best actors I had ever worked with, day one, just at that audition, because he is so giving and receptive and moves with you. He’s not an island at all, and so I really learned so much just from that first day of getting to work with him, and then it continued all throughout the movie and hopefully into the next movie, I’ll get to act with him again, because it was just a dream.
Capone: I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the GANGSTER SQUAD trailer is rocking my world right now.
ES: You like it?
Capone: It’s so good. It was on my radar just because of Ruben, but I didn’t know he could make a movie that looked like that.
ES: I hope you like it. I’m excited for you to see it.
Capone: What else do you have that you are working on?
ES: Something that I hope I can talk about soon.
Capone: Oh really? It’s something you can’t?
ES: Yeah, and then the next SPIDER-MAN and then we are in the process of LITTLE WHITE CORVETTE.
Capone: What about the one with Nicolas Cage, THE CROODS?
ES: That’s an animated movie.
Capone: Right. So LITTLE WHITE CORVETTE…
ES: It’s just beginning. We're still searching for a director, but it’s the first time I get to produce, so I’m very, very excited.
Capone: Do you have a production company now?
ES: Not quite. Hopefully some day.
Capone: I guess that’s the dream.
ES: That’s the dream. Totally, that’s the dream.
Capone: Well, it was great to meet you. Thanks a lot.
