Biography
Date of Birth
6 December 1988, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
Birth Name
Emily Jean Stone
Height
5' 6" (1.68 m)
Mini Biography
Emily Jean "Emma" Stone was born in Scottsdale, Arizona, to Krista (Yeager), a homemaker, and Jeffrey Charles Stone, a contracting company founder and CEO. She is of Swedish, German, and British Isles descent. Stone began acting as a child as a member of the Valley Youth Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona, where she made her stage debut in a production of Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows". She appeared in many more productions through her early teens until, at the age of fifteen, she decided that she wanted to make acting her career.
The official story is that she made a PowerPoint presentation, backed by Madonna's "Hollywood" and itself entitled "Project Hollywood", in an attempt to persuade her parents to allow her to drop out of school and move to Los Angeles. The pitch was successful and she and her mother moved to LA with her schooling completed at home while she spent her days auditioning.
She had her TV breakthrough when she won the part of Laurie Partridge in the VH1 talent/reality show In Search of the Partridge Family (2004) which led to a number of small TV roles in the following years. Her movie debut was as Jules in Superbad (2007) and, after a string of successful performances, her leading role as Olive in Easy A (2010) established her as a star.
Trivia
Attended Xavier College Preparatory in Phoenix, Arizona.
Although she's known as a redhead, her natural hair color is blonde. It was Judd Apatow who suggested she change her hair color for Superbad (2007) and she liked it so much that she decided to keep it.
She convinced her parents to let her move to Hollywood when she was age 15 by making a PowerPoint presentation aptly titled, Project Hollywood.
She got her start in acting at 11 years of age at the Valley Youth Theatre in Phoenix, AZ, where she starred in over 16 stage productions as well as performing the theatre's comedy improv troupe. Caylee Cowan was also acted at the Valley Youth Theatre.
Was ranked #93 in Ask Men's Top 99 Women of 2009.
Was ranked #66 in Maxim magazine's Hot 100 of 2009 list.
Was ranked #93 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the World (2009).
She is of Swedish (paternal grandfather), German, as well as Welsh, Irish, English, Scottish, and Swiss-German, ancestry. Her family's surname was changed from Sten to Stone.
Was considered one of the 55 faces of the future by Nylon Magazine Young Hollywood Issue.
Was ranked #49 in Maxim magazine's Hot 100 of 2010 list.
Her idols are Gilda Radner, Diane Keaton and Marion Cotillard.
Her parents owned the Camelback Golf Course in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Her middle name, Jean, was her grandmother's first name.
Her favorite films are City Lights (1931), Harold and Maude (1971), Network (1976) and Manhattan (1979).
Her father Jeff is a contractor and her mother Krista is a homemaker.
Her family's surname was anglicized to "Stone" after immigrating to the United States.
Has a younger brother named Spencer Stone.
Was ranked #42 on Maxim magazine's Hot 100 Women of 2011 list.
Her mother is a breast cancer survivor.
Auditioned for the role of Claire Bennet in Heroes (2006), but lost out to Hayden Panettiere. She referred to this experience as "rock bottom".
Ranked #38 in the 2011 FHM Australia list of "100 Sexiest Women in the World".
She didn't know she had asthma until she had an asthma attack while filming Easy A (2010).
Started to use "Emma" as her professional name, because there was already an "Emily Stone" when she applied for her SAG card.
When she was age 7, she fell off the parallel bars in gymnastics and broke both her arms.
In two of her films, Easy A (2010) and Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011), Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" is discussed.
Voted #6 on Ask Men's top 99 'most desirable' women of 2012.
Named as having the "Sexiest sense of humor" by Victoria's Secret What Is Sexy list (2012).
Friends with Mila Kunis and Taylor Swift.
Was in a relationship with actor Andrew Garfield from 2011 to October 2015.
Ranked #5 on Askmen's list of the top 99 "most desirable" women for 2013.
Good friends with Jonah Hill, Jennifer Lawrence, and Brie Larson.
Was considered for the lead female role in 21 Jump Street (2012), but she had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with The Amazing Spider-Man (2012).
Filming The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) in Los Angeles, California, USA. [January 2011]
Unexpectedly announced that she decided to pull out of her planned co-starring role with Alan Cumming--and forgo her Broadway debut--in the 2014 revival production of the musical "Cabaret". The Sally Bowles role ultimately went to Michelle Williams under the direction of Sam Mendes (2014). [June 2013]
Was an obsessive fan of the Spice Girls, Emma Bunton being her favorite.
Her low-pitched husky voice is a result of having baby colic, a condition of chronic crying as an infant. It lasted six months and resulted in the development of nodules. She has calluses on her vocal cords as an adult.
Ranked #27 on Maxim's "Hot 100" of 2014 list.
Is a big fan of the show iCarly (2007) and got to appear in one of its final episodes.
One of her dreams was to appear on Saturday Night Live (1975), which she achieved in 2010, in 2011, and again in 2016.
The first name of "Wichita," her character in Zombieland (2009), is Krista. This is likely in homage to her mother, whose first name is also Krista.
Shares with her The Help (2011) co-star Bryce Dallas Howard the role of "Gwen Stacy".
Has starred in three films with three stars of The Office (2005): The Rocker (2008) with Rainn Wilson, Steve Carell in Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011) and John Krasinski in Aloha (2015).
Though Aloha (2015) was the first time she and co-star Rachel McAdams had worked together, both actresses had worked with the film's main star Bradley Cooper in other movies: Stone and Cooper appeared in The Rocker (2008) and McAdams worked with him in Wedding Crashers (2005).
Starting being called "Emma" in elementary school because she's a really huge fan of the Spice Girls. Baby Spice is Emma Bunton.
Both she and her Aloha (2015) co-star, Rachel McAdams, had starred in romance movies with Ryan Gosling. In their films with Gosling, the two actresses do a love scene with the actor in the home his character lives in, after having coming in out of the rain.
Has matching bird tattoos with her mother, the birds referring to The Beatles' song, "Blackbird". Sir Paul McCartney drew the birds himself.
Has a phobia of being lifted in the air, because she broke her arms after being lifted onto a high beam.
Is a big fan of Marion Cotillard and revealed to French newspaper L'Express that she can't count the times that she reenacted the scenes from La Vie En Rose (2007) in her room.
Due to the controversy of being one of twenty white actors nominated for an Oscar while no actors of color were nominated in 2015, she says she learned a major lesson about Hollywood and that her eyes have been opened.
Has played a love interest with Ryan Gosling three times. It could have been four, but they both had dropped out of the movie, Focus (2015), with Margot Robbie and Will Smith replacing them.
Longtime manager is Doug Wald.
Is one of 27 actresses to have received an Academy Award nomination for their performance in a musical; hers being La La Land (2016). The others, in chronological order, are: Bessie Love for The Broadway Melody (1929), Grace Moore for One Night of Love (1934), Jean Hagen for Singin' in the Rain (1952), Marjorie Rambeau for Torch Song (1953), Dorothy Dandridge for Carmen Jones (1954), Deborah Kerr for The King and I (1956), Rita Moreno for West Side Story (1961), Gladys Cooper for My Fair Lady (1964)), Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins (1964), The Sound of Music (1965), and Victor Victoria (1982), Debbie Reynolds for The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964), Peggy Wood for The Sound of Music (1965), Carol Channing for Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), Kay Medford for Funny Girl (1968), Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl (1968), Liza Minnelli for Cabaret (1972), Ronee Blakley for Nashville (1975), Lily Tomlin for Nashville (1975), Ann-Margret for Tommy (1975), Lesley Ann Warren for Victor Victoria (1982), Amy Irving for Yentl (1983), Nicole Kidman for Moulin Rouge! (2001), Queen Latifah for Chicago (2002), Catherine Zeta-Jones for Chicago (2002), Renée Zellweger for Chicago (2002), Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls (2006), Penélope Cruz for Nine (2009), Anne Hathaway for Les Misérables (2012), and Meryl Streep for Into the Woods (2014).
She was performing in Cabaret on Broadway when she was cast for her Academy Award winning role in La La Land (2016). Before her triumph the last time an actress won Leading Actress for a musical was Liza Minnelli for the movie version of Cabaret (1972).
Was the 148th actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress Oscar for La La Land (2016) at The Oscars (2017) on February 26, 2017.
As of 2019, has appeared in four films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: The Help (2011), Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014), La La Land (2016), and The Favourite (2018). Of those, Birdman is a winner in the category.
Is one of 8 actresses to have won an Academy Award for their performance in a musical. The others in chronological order are; Rita Moreno, Julie Andrews, Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jennifer Hudson and Anne Hathaway.
Merited a place in TIME magazine's "The 100 Most Influential People" issue with an homage - "The Emerging Icon" - written by friend Brie Larson. [May 2017]
Highest paid actress of 2017 with $26 million.
She was originally cast as "Amber" in Sucker Punch (2011), but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. The role later went to Jamie Chung.
Was considered for the role of "Cinderella" in the Disney live action musical, "Into The Woods", but said no. She was also considered for the role of "Debora" in the 2017 action movie, Baby Driver (2017), but said no due to her filming La La Land (2016), The role of "Debora" went to Lily James, who played "Cinderella" in the 2015 live action Disney remake, Cinderella (2015), as the title character.
She's a Fan of Kpop.
Even though She's Gwen Stacy in 'The Amazing Spider-Man' Franchise, She's never read any of the Comics.
Was one of the choices to play Elizabeth Bennett in the 2016 horror action movie, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016).
Deleted her Twitter account @stonenobrien when someone hacked it. She has since sworn off social media.
Though it is her trademark, she doesn't like the sound of her voice, saying to E! Online "I still can't believe I sound like this.".
She was raised a Lutheran.
Supporter of Planned Parenthood.
Paternal granddaughter of Conrad Ostberg Stone (b. Pennsylvania) (son of Conrad August Stone (b. Pennsylvania) and wife Florence Jeanette Ostberg (b. Ohio), paternal grandson of Carl Johan Sten then Charles John Stone (b. Svenljunga, Mårdaklev, Älvsborgs Län, Sweden) and wife Hilma Josephina Bengston or Bengtson and maternal grandson of Johan then John Gottfrid Östberg (b. Sweden) and wife Johanna Albertina or Altina Lindström (b. Sweden) and wife Margaret Jean Moran (b. Ohio) (daughter of John Henry Moran and wife Margaret Jane Davies).
Daughter of Jeffrey Charles Stone, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a general-contracting company, and wife Krista Jean (Yeager), homemaker, and older sister of Spencer Stone.
Maternal granddaughter of Donald Earl "Don" Yeager (b. Pennsylvania) (son of Irvin Sylvester Yeager and wife Esther Katharine Parks, paternal grandson of Sylvester Noll Yeager and wife Mary "Mamie" E. Burke and maternal grandson of Alfred Parks and wife Ann "Annie" Gertrude Knuffman or Knufmann or Kauffman) and wife Jean Louise Eiseman (b. Pennsylvania) (daughter of Cyrus Robert Eiseman and wife Ruth Ann Henry, paternal granddaughter of Robert Patterson Eiseman and wife Esther Lurline or Lurine Hoffman and maternal granddaughter of Jackson Henry and wife Lydia Jane Turner of Clan Donald).
(June 26, 2019) Recovering after falling over and injuring herself. Stone hurt her shoulder after slipping on a floor at a home.
Since 2017, Stone has been in a romantic relationship with Saturday Night Live (1975) segment director Dave McCary.
Announced her engagement to Saturday Night Live writer/director Dave McCary after 2 years of dating on December 4, 2019.
Trademarks:
Bright emerald green eyes
Distinctive husky voice
Red hair
Quotes
[on shooting Superbad (2007)] It's incredible, it's been really fun and really funny and I can't stop breaking character which is getting me in trouble sometimes but it's alright, ya know . . . I just keep laughing.
I've got a great family and great people around me that would be able to kick me in the shins if I ever for one minute got lost up in the clouds. I've been really lucky in that sense.
Haven't had to fight off any Seth characters. And I'm not fighting him off. It's a situation where I really do like him. I just don't want our first kiss to happen in that situation. But, no, I've never really had that experience. Of someone coming on to me being out of their mind drunk. I'm the lucky one, maybe.
[on it being difficult for women to get into comedy] There really aren't many parts. It's an unfortunate thing and something I hope will change, but never has, and who knows if it will? I think Saturday Night Live (1975), starting in the 1970s, really gave women an outlet to be funny. A lot of those women went on to have film careers, from Kristen Wiig now to Tina Fey and Gilda Radner . . . Nowadays it seems like the real goldmine is in creating your own characters and teaming with a good writer, but it's not easy. It's a scary thing for a woman to put yourself out there and look like an idiot. Look at Lucille Ball. She said, "I'm not funny. What I am is brave". The comediennes I admire are the bravest people who aren't afraid to look ridiculous. Maybe that's a harder notion for women--the fear of not looking their best.
I realize I have a lot of amazing opportunities, but I don't know how you can play a human being going through real human experiences without being able to walk down the street. If you can't live a real life, how do you play a real person? It always confuses me when actors work back-to-back-to-back with no break. If you live your life on a film set, how the hell can you relate to real people? You don't know what it's like to not have people fussing over you all day, and that's not life--that's silly movies. I will always want to take breaks and I wouldn't be OK with losing that.
[on her hair for her role in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)] I have blonde hair now since Gwen [Stacy] has blonde hair. My hair is naturally blonde, so it's kind of nice. I look in the mirror and say, "Oh my God, it's me again, it's been so long!"
The truth is I am naturally blonde anyway. Everyone thinks I'm a redhead but that's just dyed. I'm actually enjoying being a blonde again. It's been a while.
Blondes do have more fun. But sometimes I look in the mirror and still feel like I'm wearing a wig.
Y'know when you think, "I can't do something because this or this or this". You can actually do anything you want, like I could [go] ballistic right now and tear this whole room apart, I could but i'm not going to because logic is stopping me, but you can do whatever you want. You really can veer off any path at any time. Never give up!
I was a stepsister in a local production of "Cinderella". I had crazy red hair in a cone shape and lots of blue eye shadow. I had braces at the time, so whenever I smiled it was all red lipstick on my teeth, which was really attractive. After that I did a play called "Noises Off", and when that was over I thought, "I really want to be in movies". So I asked my parents and eventually they said yes.
[on beauty] Confidence is the only key. I know a lot of people who aren't traditionally "beautiful"--not symmetrical or perfect-bodied or perfect-skinned. But none of that matters because all that shines through is their confidence, humor and comfort with themselves. I can't think of any better representation of beauty than someone who is unafraid to be herself.
[on Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)] First of all, do you know how rare it is that you read an original script--a story that isn't a sequel, prequel, threequel? But this movie covers all of these different kind of relationships, and it looks at them in original ways. How unusual is it that you see a story in which a woman cheats on her husband but you also root for them to get back together?
[on performing flying-stunt sequences in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)]I will say this about wirework. It's like the difference between roller coaster and bungee jump. I'm fine in a roller coaster. but put me in a bungee thing where they shoot you up and you freefall? I don't like that. It's fine if there's a track and some kind of harness, but I get really freaked-out if it's in any way a freefall.
We went to Coronado every summer, so I always think of driving over that bridge from San Diego, and then walking down that little strip on the main street, going cosmic bowling at midnight, eating at this 24-hour diner at 3 a.m.--that's summer to me. We'd just hang out on the beach and walk around and go to Hotel Del Coronado, and learn about the ghost of the Hotel Del.
There's this Ryan Gosling quote that I steal all the time--I watched an interview with him in Cannes--and he said picking roles is like listening to songs on the radio: There can be a lot of really great songs in a row, but then one comes on that just makes you want to dance.
My instincts seem to come from a different place--they feel headier to me, and I get the wrong scent and go off on these whims.
I learned to play the bass for The Rocker (2008). They sent over a bass coach the night I got the role, so I had to get into it right away and get calluses as quickly as possible. So I can play all the songs in the movie, but that's pretty much where the line ends. I bought a Fender Mustang bass, a really nice off-white, ivory bass, when I got home. I have not touched it since. And I need to. It's in my house, it's sitting there waiting. You know what? After this conversation, I'm going to go play some bass. That's what's going to happen.
[on providing a voice for Eep in The Croods (2013)] I'm a cave girl, yeah! So I got to go nuts, which was great. I like not to reel it in and when you're a cartoon you can act as crazy as you want.
I'm a big fan of Lauren Bacall. Maybe because everyone was smoking more heavily then, but that raspy, throaty quality seems to be much more prevalent in those '40s movies. Mine was from colic when I was a baby.
It's nice to know that even when you're shooting a movie like The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) that you approach the character the same way, and you're trying to tell the truth, all the time, about who that person is and what they're feeling. So it's comforting that under any circumstance no matter what the budget that that remains the same. This feels different. The press feels different. This is where it really strikes you that you're in Spider-Man.
I get a lot of questions about hair color. People are very into talking about hair.
I went through a list of names and picked Riley. But then I had a guest part on Malcolm in the Middle (2000), and everyone kept on yelling, "Riley!" and I didn't know who they were talking to.
I do find that I am drawn to people in my life, romantically or not, that have something to teach me . . . There is some sense of being changed.
I won't make a bucket list because I'm so afraid that I'll die and then people will find my bucket list and be, like, "Oh, she didn't get to do that."
When I was 14 years old, I made this PowerPoint presentation, and I invited my parents into my room and gave them popcorn. It was called "Project Hollywood 2004" and it worked. I moved to L.A. in January of 2004.
My parents always made me feel as though I could do anything--not in a cheerleading, "You're the greatest!" kind of way; it was more, "You're going to have to work hard, but we'll support you however we can."
You're only human. You live once and life is wonderful, so eat the red velvet cupcake.
[on Marion Cotillard] She's prodigious in La Vie En Rose (2007). I can't count the times that I reenacted the scenes from the film in my room.
[Speaking out to the controversy of her portraying "Allison Ng" from the film, Aloha (2015)] I've become the butt of many jokes. I've learned on a macro level about the insane history of whitewashing in Hollywood and how prevalent the problem truly is. It's ignited a conversation that's very important. The character was not supposed to look like her background, which was a quarter Hawaiian and a quarter Chinese.
In my career so far, I've needed my male co-stars to take a pay cut so that I may have parity with them. And that's something they do for me because they feel it's what's right and fair. That's something that's also not discussed, necessarily that our getting equal pay is going to require people to selflessly say, That's what's fair
Acting was something that helped me overcome a lot of my anxiety and doubts. Your teenage years can often be difficult, but I knew this was what I wanted to do with my life. So that gave me plenty of drive and ambition.
