That she was blessed by the sacred fire of acting was clear from the very beginning; already her leading role in the delicate yet incisive The Help (2011) confirmed that we were in the presence of a true thoroughbred actress, complete with Mississippi accent and a performance prepared through research into the history of the civil rights movement. Emma Stone has proven time and again that she can embody the most diverse characters – a quality she will undoubtedly continue to display in every chapter of her career.
With curiosity, a hunger to challenge herself, and a willingness to be shaped by a director’s vision, Emma gave us a memorable and heartbreaking version of Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man’s girlfriend, before becoming Michael Keaton’s troubled daughter in Iñárritu’s stunning Birdman – another of Alberto Barbera’s great intuitions when he chose the film to open the Venice Film Festival in 2014. It went on to win four Oscars. Intuitions, Oscars, Venice: connecting the dots leads us to La La Land, the Academy Award-winning success that redrew the boundaries of the musical – “dedicated to the fools who dream” – co-starring Ryan Gosling and Stone herself, whose Volpi Cup consecrated her talent before the world.
Intuitions, Oscars, Venice: the equation proved valid and dazzling again in 2023, when under the direction of Yorgos Lanthimos she brought Poor Things to the Golden Lion in Venice and earned one of the most deserved Oscars for Best Actress in recent years.
Young beekeeper Teddy and his best friend are obsessed with conspiracy theories and convinced of one thing: aliens are among us. Their suspicions fall on Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone), powerful CEO of a pharmaceutical giant whom they believe is an alien bent on destroying Earth...
Mississippi, 1963. In a society where a woman was considered fulfilled only as a devoted mother and housewife, Emma plays a young woman eager to leave her mark on the world by fighting against segregation and racism.
This time the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is Andrew Garfield, in the reboot of Sam Raimi’s trilogy (2002–2007). Her Gwen Stacy is a central figure, on equal footing with Peter. Until the very end.
As Sam, the daughter, she embodies one of the painful chapters Riggan Thompson must face in this frenetic journey into himself, signed by Iñárritu.
We all wished for a different choice — only to realize that a happy ending is not always the right outcome to strive for. Yes, Mia/Emma certainly fulfilled her dream of becoming an actress.
Lanthimos’ project demanded total commitment. And Emma’s response was Oscar-worthy: a creature governed by instinct, and for that very reason able to live more fully than almost anyone else.
