{"id":492710,"date":"2024-01-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1970-01-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/numero.com\/non-classifiee-2\/interview-with-emma-stone-the-magnetic-star-of-the-sublime-and-wacky-poor-things\/"},"modified":"2024-06-20T17:32:04","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T15:32:04","slug":"interview-with-emma-stone-the-magnetic-star-of-the-sublime-and-wacky-poor-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/numero.com\/en\/culture-en\/interview-with-emma-stone-the-magnetic-star-of-the-sublime-and-wacky-poor-things\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Emma Stone, the magnetic star of the sublime and wacky Poor Things"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u201cPlaying the role of Bella was unbelievable. I see this film as a romcom, in the sense that Bella falls in love with life itself rather than a person. She accepts the good and the bad in equal measure. That really made me look at life differently. All of it counts and all of it is important. Bella has stayed with me deeply<\/em>.\u201d Emma Stone<\/strong>\u2019s tender and moving words were uttered by the actress as she received the Golden Globe<\/a> for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical on January 7th, 2024.<\/p>

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With her beautiful speech, the 35-year-old American actress wanted to emphasize how much the role of the candid, audacious and carnal Bella Baxter<\/strong> has changed her life. Emma Stone plays the role of a grown woman with the mind of a child in Poor Things<\/strong>, <\/em>the ambitious new film by Greek director Y\u00f3rgos L\u00e1nthimos<\/strong> (The Favorite<\/em>, The Lobster<\/em>), which was released last Wednesday, January 17th. But this surreal steampunk comedy, which won the Golden Lion at the last Venice Film Festival, will also change the way viewers see Emma Stone, as well as women and the world at large.<\/p>

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Interview with Emma Stone, the actress starring in the wacky tale <\/strong>Poor Things<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>

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Before starring in Poor Things<\/strong>, <\/em>and even producing this strange and sublime adaptation of Alasdair Gray<\/strong>\u2019s novel, Emma Stone<\/strong> could already count on her great acting career and the respect of her peers in Hollywood. With her everlasting youthfulness and innocence, the mischievous star had already won the Oscar for Best Actress<\/strong> thanks to her performance in Damien Chazelle<\/strong>\u2019s infamous La La Land <\/strong><\/em>(2016). <\/p>

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Versatile, glamorous, sparkling, extravagant, and always spot-on, the actress excels equally well in comedies (Easy Girl<\/em>), romantic features (Crazy Stupid Love<\/em>, Woody Allen<\/a>\u2019s Magic in the Moonlight<\/em>, Friends with Benefits<\/em>), film noir and drama (Irrational Man<\/em>, The Help<\/em>) or period pieces (The Favorite<\/em>). Yet the star of The Amazing Spider-Man<\/em>, Birdman<\/em> and Cruella<\/em> has never been more moving, disconcerting or impressive than in Poor Things<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>

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Her performance in Poor Things<\/em> is a wacky, burlesque tour de force that could earn the insolently beautiful actress another Oscar – in addition to her husky voice, her very large turquoise eyes are wide open on her doll-like face… As a child, Emma Stone<\/strong> dreamed of being Steve Martin. With this new role, she does much better, becoming the worthy heir to the greatest heroines of screwball comedy, the thrilling and whimsical film genre of the 1930s and 1940s… Long gone are the days when the young Emma Stone, who now stars in the hilarious series The Curse<\/em>, would give her parents a PowerPoint presentation to convince them to let her take a chance in Hollywood…<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019d say that Bella Baxter is the happiest character I\u2019ve ever played so far.\u201d <\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>

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During the press conference held last December at the Bristol in Paris, one of the journalists asked Emma Stone<\/strong> if her performance in Poor Things<\/em> had been the most risky of her career, to what she replied no with a lively cheerfulness: \u201cI\u2019d rather say that Bella Baxter<\/strong> is the happiest character I\u2019ve ever played so far. Perhaps the things that I found hard to create with Bella were actually just my self-criticism or my way of trying to get rid of my own life experiences because she\u2019s so open<\/em>. I think I fell so madly in love with her as a person that I just wanted to live her life or at least try to live up to her standards for a while<\/em>,\u201d the actress added with her legendary infectious enthusiasm.<\/p>

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What does the actress, who has struggled with anxiety and panic attacks – for which she had been hospitalized a couple of times as a teenager – envy the most, and what inspires her most about the heroine of Poor Things<\/strong><\/em>? \u201cHer extreme lust for life. She thinks that all aspects of life are fascinating because she is in love with being alive. I find that very inspiring. I wish I could live like that more often. Whether she is going through an incredible experience or a really difficult one, she gives an equal weight to them and finds an interest in them because that\u2019s life. They all make you evolve internally, yet there is no judgment about them<\/em>.\u201d Bella Baxter\u2019s poetic and raw odyssey is an inspiration for both the audience witnessing her journey and for the star of La La Land<\/strong><\/em> <\/strong>(2016). <\/p>\n

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Bella Baxter: a free-spirited heroine with a heightened sexuality<\/strong><\/h2>

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On paper, Bella Baxter<\/strong>\u2019s role seemed particularly subversive, dangerous, and difficult to play. In the manner of a feminine Frankenstein, the dark, fantastic and eccentric Poor Things<\/strong><\/em> stages a rather outlandish plot. After committing suicide, the young Bella was brought back to life by Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe<\/strong>), who then raised her as his own daughter and kept her locked up in his home, far from a depraved society at a time that remains unknown for the viewer, but which hints at the Victorian era. As a result of an experiment by the mad, unscrupulous doctor who stands as her father, she now possesses the brain of the baby she was carrying when she died and the body of a young woman.<\/p>

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Devoid of knowledge and inhibition, shameless, difficult and very curious, Bella needs to relearn everything about the world and its customs. So, she decides to break free from her father\u2019s guardianship to explore new horizons with her decadent lover Duncan, a lawyer played by Mark Ruffalo<\/strong>. On her journey around the globe, Bella will discover the dark side of the world and of humans and will experience a myriad of thrilling and frightening adventures. From eating pastries in Lisbon to sailing on a cruise ship, talking to strangers, reading books, or prostituting herself in a brothel in Paris, she eventually finds her calling – becoming a doctor.<\/p>

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\u201cWe did a lot of rehearsals for that sequence, as the dance turns into a stream of movements where I end up kicking a man in the balls.\u201d Emma Stone<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>

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The role of the intrepid Bella Baxter could have frightened many actresses because of the nude and sexual scenes. Yet, Emma Stone<\/strong> slipped into the skin of this astonishing startled creature with invigorating energy. A challenge that required a bit of training, just like stage actors would rehearse before a play… \u201cWe had a schedule of rehearsals similar to the one tested before shooting the film <\/em>The Favorite<\/strong>. It only took three weeks to play together with the other actors, which actually represents a lot of playing<\/em>,\u201d the actress explained.<\/p>

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We did a lot of rehearsals for one scene in particular, where Bella Baxter<\/strong> is dancing wildly in front of her lover, Duncan, and a whole bunch of people stunned by her rebellious, erratic, exhilarated movements. \u201cWith choreographer Costanza Macras, we embarked on a great journey exploring how Bella could dance. How would she behave at this moment of the story? What role would Duncan\u2019s jealousy play? Although it\u2019s a dance scene, it says a lot about Bella and Duncan\u2019s dynamic, about her freedom, as well as her lover\u2019s attempts to attract and catch her, but also about Bella\u2019s power over him in these moments and the struggle it triggers. So we did a lot of rehearsals for that sequence, as the dance turns into a stream of movements where I end up kicking a man in the balls and throwing champagne in Duncan\u2019s face. That scene was really fun to shoot because it had been a long process. We had waited for months before dancing<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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