The year of 2017 looks set to be an extremely bright one for American actress Emma Stone, with the soon to be released romantic musical ‘La La Land’ already earning her a Golden Globe nomination for best actress. Yet despite recreating the obvious on-screen chemistry between herself and Ryan Gosling in the acclaimed Film, thoughts regarding Hollywood’s apparent sexist overtones seem to remain firmly on her mind.
UK release in January
‘La La Land’ is due to be released in Britain in mid-January, after its American opening late in 2016 earned an encouraging $35 million gross at the box office.
Besides the general connotation of someone who is out of touch with reality, the film’s title is also a thinly veiled reference to Los Angeles, the city that provides the backdrop to much of the storyline.
Agatha Christie biopic
Stone’s burgeoning workload has also been swelled by a major role in an upcoming Agatha Christie biopic, just as interest in the queen of the crime-writing genre seems to be on the rise once again.
Rosemary Kennedy portrayal
Add to that a challenging portrayal of the sister of the iconic former American president John F Kennedy and her acting card looks to be full for the immediate future. Rosemary Kennedy developed the mental capacity of a two-year-old at the real age of 23, after a failed prefrontal lobotomy operation that had been sanctioned by her father Joseph Kennedy Snr.
Hollywood perceived as sexist?
Film success apart, Stone still seems determined to highlight her own experiences of a perceived sexist stance within Hollywood that persists within the glitzy film industry environment. She has spoken of past times on set when her own improvisation has been misused. Although the film-makers involved may have openly laughed at the time, they have effectively “given my joke away” in her view by offering it to the male co-star instead.
Understands what works in films
As her understanding of what works and what doesn’t in a good feature film has developed, Stone has also referred to occasions when a suggested line of dialogue should have been cut but hasn’t been despite her protests. Those behind the cameras have insisted that she should try the line, providing the alternative of “if it doesn’t work we’ll cut it out.
” Yet the final version has retained the words that didn’t “work” in her opinion.
‘Safe’ roles of the past
Avid film goers may remember Stone for her portrayal of Gwen Stacy in the 2012 super-hero flick ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ alongside Andrew Garfield, a role she reprised two years later in a sequel. Such ‘safe’ but popular roles may also be at the heart of the 28-year-old’s somewhat forthright stance regarding her future projects.
She has spoken candidly during recent interviews, describing her previous desire to please people (when choosing what offers to accept) with the obvious drawback that the parts have not challenged her as much as she would wish. With that thought firmly in her mind, Stone has found that it has been “easy to be drawn to characters that aren’t gonna upset anybody.”
Golden Globes’ nominations
Despite the obvious financial rewards as recompense though, she now seems confident enough to be more selective in her choices and with it the possibility of future critical acclaim looks more likely.
She will hope that the Golden Globes will be such an occasion, with ‘La La Land’ receiving nominations not only for herself but also for her co-star Gosling (Best Actor), the director Damien Chazelle and the film itself.
