Emma Stone is not afraid to embrace a challenging role. Her latest film is called "Bugonia" and reunites her with one of her favorite collaborators, director Yorgos Lanthimos, with the two having worked repeatedly in the past.
Stone plays an ambitious pharmaceutical CEO named Michelle Fuller, a character who had Stone shave her head onscreen for the role. The actress and producer tried her best to keep the physical transformation under wraps, wanting to preserve the surprise for the audience. For a couple of months, Stone wore beanies and even wigs while attending red carpet premieres and events.
Still, while she grew to love the look, she did have her doubts. “It was a year and a half I knew that I was going to be shaving my head, and then the day of — they were setting up four cameras, because we had to get it in one shot and we were shooting on VistaVision for the most part, which is a gorgeous but very moody camera that will shut down a lot — so they were setting up, and it was taking a long time to set all the cameras up. And I just started kind of panicking about that,” said Stone in an interview with PEOPLE.
Stone revealed that the story of her mother, Krista, who was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent chemotherapy in 2008, served as a powerful reminder for Stone, helping her embrace the role.
"It was actually one of the greatest experiences of my life, very freeing, and it’s just hair. I thought it would be longer by now, but it’s just hair!" said Stone.
Stone's relationship with her mother
Stone has long opened up about her mother in previous interviews, sharing how supportive she and her father were when she first wanted to be an actress. In fact, Krista moved with Stone to Los Angeles when she was younger, supporting her as she attended different auditions and learned the basics of acting.
In 2024, when Stone won the BAFTA Award for her performance in the film "Poor Things," she took a moment to thank her mother onstage.
"I just want to say this in case I don't ever get a chance to again. I really want to thank my mom because she’s the best person I know in the world and she inspires me every single day and she’s always made me believe this kind of crazy idea that I could do something like this, and I’m beyond grateful," said Stone.
“Without her none of this exists, including my life, so thanks for that too, mom. Thank you so much."