Emma Stone on the ‘Total Garbage’ Advice She Got from a Sexist Studio Exec Early in Her Career

Emma Stone talks about the power of women in Hollywood.

On Thursday, Poor people star received the 2024 Palm Springs International Film Awards Desert Palm Achievement Award for Actress for her performance in the Yorgos Lanthimos-directed film.

During her speech, Stone, 35, recalled some advice she received from a sexist studio director early in her career, in which he said, in so many words, that women only have a limited amount of time to career in the industry.

“When I first moved to LA, I went to one of those general meetings that they sometimes send you to, and the director told me that for male actors it’s a marathon, not a sprint,” the actress said. “And in his eyes, for women, it was a sprint, not a marathon. And that was 20 years ago.”

“And I realize that advice is total garbage because most of the women I look up to in this industry, many of whom are in this room, have proven that as time goes on, life and work only get more interesting and fulfilling,” Stone added.

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Emma Stone at the Palm Springs International Film Awards on January 4, 2024.

Monica Schipper/WireImage

Stars nominated for 2 awards at the 2024 Golden Globe Awards

Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe, two of Stone’s actors Poor people, he presented her with the award. Cate Blanchett received the same award last year for her performance in Tar; she received an Oscar nomination at last year’s Academy Awards.

“Emma Stone continues to make an impact as one of the most important actresses of this generation, whose performances are always exceptional regardless of the role. In his latest film Poor peopleEmma delivers a burning intensity and a character about liberation,” festival president Nachhattar Singh Chandi said in a November press release regarding Stone’s award.

“There is no one better suited for this role,” Chandi added at the time.

Poor people revolves around the maturation of Stone’s character Bella Baxter, a woman brought back to life shortly after her death by Dafoe’s scientist character, Dr. Godwin Baxter. Bella is brought back to life with the brain of a child, but she quickly relearns speech and wants more from life than the interior of the Godwin home.

Enter Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo Poor people (2023).

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“Hungry for the worldliness she lacks, Bella runs away with Duncan Wedderburn (Ruffalo), a suave and lecherous lawyer, on a whirlwind adventure across continents,” reads the film’s official synopsis. “Free from the prejudice of her time, Bella becomes steadfast in her determination to stand up for equality and liberation.”

“This role was unlike anything I’ve ever read or anyone I’ve read about,” Stone said in her speech on Thursday. “She is a woman who is immune to external expectations and resistant to judgment, shame and play.”

“Bella was challenging because I had to unlearn those aspects of myself, and that’s also what made her an absolute joy to play,” she added.

Stone is also nominated for Poor people at the upcoming Critics Choice Awards and Golden Globe Awards; at the Globes, she was additionally nominated for her performance in the television series Showtime Curse.

Poor people it’s in theaters now.

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Source: HIS Education