Emma Stone in 2024 - Personal Life, Career, Health Issues And More

A famed actress and producer, Emma Stone currently basks in the spotlight for her third Best Actress Oscar nomination for 2023’s Poor Things. Additionally, she stands on the verge of further solidifying her legacy with a second Academy Awards win following 2017’s La La Land. Famed for her acting versatility and charming nature, she also happens to be one of the most bankable actresses in the film industry as well as one of its most recognized ones. Featuring a distinctive voice and an innate ability to connect with fans and audiences, she has appeared in many popular and award-winning franchises and productions.

On her quest to win herself accolades from the Oscars to the box office, her story of becoming one of Hollywood’s finest reserves a prominent bookmark.

Early life and background history of Emma Stone

Emma Stone, or Emily Jean "Emma" Stone, was born on November 6, 1988, in Scottsdale, Arizona, to Jeffrey Charles Stone and Krista Jean Stone. While her father stood as the founder and CEO of a general contracting company, her mother was a homemaker with the actress as the elder sibling to a brother named Spencer. Moreover, she boasts German, English, Scottish as well as Irish roots with her paternal grandfather of Swedish ancestry, Conrad Ostberg Sten, having anglicized the family name to Stone.

Deriving the best of all cultures, a diverse tapestry surrounded her, and a unique experience in her upbringing shaped her. Around the ages of twelve to fifteen, she lived on the grounds of the Camelback Inn resort, complete with picturesque landscapes all around. The remarkably different setting from a traditional suburb may have had its own role to play in the shaping up of the actress, with her developing an interest in the arts and acting at a very young age.

Education, the pursuit of acting, and challenges

Emma Stone attended Sequoya Elementary School and Cocopah Middle School as a bright and diligent student with a knack for subjects like English, History, and Mathematics. Furthermore, she also took an active interest in extracurricular activities and inculcated new and challenging intellectual traits. However, in those times of her early education, she had to deal with severe anxiety and panic attacks, having to learn to cope with them.

Stone expressed a desire to act as early as the age of four. Inspired by the comedy shows she watched with her family like Saturday Night Live, The Gilda Radner Story, and The Carol Burnett Show, she aspired to have a career in sketch comedy. However, her focus soon shifted to musical theater and a stage debut at age eleven in a play titled The Wind in the Willows. Thereafter, she harnessed her skills in singing and dancing and acted in other adaptations such as Les Misérables, Annie, and Grease.

The young soul then performed in various theater productions at the Valley Youth Theatre although, initially, she faced setbacks and faced rejection and criticism for her appearance, voice, and age. Yet, she stood forever determined to act and hence dropped out of Xavier College Preparatory after one semester, opting for online schooling.

In this list of growing unconventionality, she added one more when she created a presentation titled Project Hollywood as a pitch to her parents. Adorned with charts, figures, and examples, she used the assortment to let them know that moving to Los Angeles could be the brightest option for her career as well as aspirations. Convinced, they agreed to support her decision as well as accompany her to California.

Early Career Challenges and Exploration

At 15 years of age, Emma Stone moved to Los Angeles with her mother and made her television debut in 2004’s In Search of the New Partridge Family. Playing the role of Laurie Patridge, she starred in the reality show that produced only an unsold pilot. Meanwhile, she marched ahead yet found herself in many other unsold pilots such as 2005’s The New Partridge Family and Medium followed by 2006’s Malcolm in the Middle and Lucky Louie.

Emma Stone made her initial film debut in the 2007 teen comedy, Superbad, playing Jules, the love interest of Jonah Hill’s character. Fortunately, her efforts with dying her hair from a natural blonde to red for the movie proved fruitful as it earned over $169 million, critical acclaim, as well as a Young Hollywood Award for Exciting New Face nomination for her. Along the lines, Stone also starred in an action drama with 2007’s Drive, where her character, Violet Trimble, went on an illegal cross-country road race sojourn. However, after four episodes, the show got canceled, due to poor ratings.

The House Bunny, Zombieland, and diversifying into new roles

For the period of 2008 to 2009, Emma Stone continued exploring the comedy genre. To diversify her roles, she starred in 2008’s The Rocker, playing Amelia, the bassist of a rock band. In the same year, she also starred as Natalie, the president of a sorority in The House Bunny, which revolved around a former Playboy bunny acting as a housemother to the socially awkward girls. While both the movies performed well enough at the box office, Stone received a nomination for the Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress– Comedy for both films.

In 2009, the actress reprised her role as Jules in the horror comedy, Zombieland, joining a group of survivors of a zombie apocalypse. Through her hard work, the film hit commercial and critical high, earning over $102 million and becoming the highest-grossing zombie film in the US until 2013. Meanwhile, in the same year, her role as Abby in Paper Man received mixed critical and box-office success.

Regardless, her debut film Superbad, which won her the Young Hollywood Award for Exciting New Face, threw her status upward as one of the best-rising stars in Hollywood. In the late 2000s, she appeared on several lists and charts such as Entertainment Weekly's 15 Entertainers of the 2000s and Variety's Youth Impact Report along with being named one of the Top 10 Everything of 2010 by Time magazine.

Breakthrough for Emma Stone with the turn of the 2010s

After the turn of the decade, Emma Stone continued to work ahead to make her presence more prominent in Hollywood. In 2010, she voiced the character of Maize in the live-action comedy film Marmaduke. Thereafter, she found acclaim in that year’s teen comedy-drama Easy A, where her role as Olive Penderghast, a pretending promiscuous student, earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical.

Finally, living her childhood dream, Emma Stone hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time in 2011, hosting several sketches such as one impersonating Lindsay Lohan. Moreover, she also starred opposite Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis in the rom-com Friends with Benefits. Finally, in another production from the same year she played Hannah who fell in love with a womanizer, played by Ryan Gosling, in Crazy, Stupid, Love, earning praise for their on-screen chemistry.

Along the lines, she also made a quick jump to period drama with the film adaptation of the same name as that of Kathryn Stockett’s novel, The Help. Playing Skeeter Phelan, a young journalist interviewing African-American maids in the 1960s Mississippi, the film became a runaway hit and received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Meanwhile, Stone also found a nod for a Screen Actors Guild Award and newfound critical acclaim for the young actress.

The Amazing Spider-Man Series and La La Land Triumph

Career took a dramatic turn for Emma Stone, bringing her resounding fame, critical acclaim, and widespread recognition, leading all the way to her first Oscars win following her signing as Gwen Stacy for Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man franchise. Playing the love interest of Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker, her work on the initial 2012 flick as well as its 2014 sequel saw her debut back in blonde hair. Additionally, both of the movies became box office majors, grossing $757 and $709 million, respectively.

The actress then found recognition for dramatic roles starting with 2014’s Birdman. The black comedy-drama had her play Sam, a recovering drug-addict daughter of Michael Keaton’s character, trying to revive his Broadway career. Earning rave reviews and over $103 million, it won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Meanwhile, it also landed Stone her first Oscars for Best Supporting Actress, as well as a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

A year later, the now-acclaimed actress made her Broadway debut with the revival of the musical, Cabaret. Playing Sally Bowles, she replaced Michelle Williams and held the role from November 2014 to February 2015. However, in terms of the biggest breakthrough of her career, Emma Stone truly shined with her Best Actress Oscar win in 2016’s musical, La La Land, opposite Ryan Gosling.

Written and directed by Damien Chazelle, Stone played Mia, an aspiring actress who fell in love with a jazz pianist. After earning over $447 million, La La Land became one of the most successful musicals of all time. Furthermore, Emma Stone also became one of the youngest actresses to win the Oscar in that category at the age of 28.

The road to Poor Things and beyond

After La La Land, Emma Stone marched ahead with unmatched acclaim and headway with 2017’s Battle of the Sexes. Starring as tennis champion, Billie Jean King, the biographical drama earned her another Golden Globe nomination. Thereafter, in 2018’s The Favorite, she starred as Abigail Hill, in the historical black comedy directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, earning an Academy Award, a BAFTA, and a Golden Globes nomination.

In moving ahead with her endeavors, Stone and her husband, Dave McCary, launched a film and television production company called Fruit Tree in 2020. Forming a first-look television deal with A24, one of the first projects to roll out the gates was Jesse Eisenberg’s comedy-drama, Saving the World. In 2022, Emma Stone would collaborate with the director, Yorgos Lanthimos, on a short film, Bleat, before knocking the ball out of the park with 2023’s Poor Things.

Based on a novel by Alasdair Gray Poor Things had Stone as Bella Baxter, a young woman who comes to life through a brain transplant and embarks on an odyssey of self-discovery. With five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Emma Stone, the movie marked itself as the pinnacle of the actress’ latest achievements.

In the meantime, of all these flicks and projects, Emma Stone also starred as the titular Cruella in Disney’s 2021 live-action, which also landed good critical acclaim. As for the future, the actress may have a sequel to the above Disney flick in line along with a comedy series called Little Films for HBO Max, though limited confirmation has found its way. Finally, an adaptation of A Flicker in the Dark and a film called A Real Pain for Searchlight Pictures, also lie in the tow, as with acting and production roles for Stone.

Emma Stone and the desire for a ‘normal’ life

After filming Zombieland, Emma Stone opted to move to New York from Los Angeles in a move fueled by her desire to explore new opportunities in the theaters. Renting an apartment in the historic Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village, she usually moved around anonymously, walking down the city and exploring the sights and culture. However, in 2016, she returned to Los Angeles for La La Land, mentioning missing the sunshine and the need to be closer to her family.

Soon she moved to a property in Beverly Hills and still resides there along with her husband and daughter, Louise. A staunch advocate for privacy, she rarely dishes out any private information or attends any interviews or press meets. Additionally, she has a staunch distaste for the paparazzi and the tabloid media. More often than not, she has expressed the desire to live a “normal life”, surround herself with people who love and care, and be able to visit places without getting constantly watched.

In many interviews and discussions, she has laid bare her love for acting both as a profession and a passion. Among her role models, Emma Stone counts Diane Keaton as one, praising her for her versatility, charisma, and talent. Having worked with her on The House Bunny and Morning Glory, she holds a deep admiration for her life choices and her works.

Relationship history and public scrutiny of Emma Stone

Among the earliest known relationships of Emma Stone comes Kieran Culkin, the brother of Macaulay Culkin, whom she dated from 2010 to 2012. Playing a teenage couple on Paper Man, the duo kept it mostly under wraps, yet marked a few public appearances such as during the 2011 Met Gala and the 2012 BAFTAs. The next chapter of her love life, however, would involve a large share of public scrutiny, attention, and hype, especially owing to their fan base.

After meeting Andrew Garflield in 2011 on the set of The Amazing Spider-Man, Emma Stone dated him for four years. Their on and off-screen romance gained immense popularity, and they often marked appearances together at red-carpet events while being vocal about supporting one another. However, media speculation regarding their engagement, marriage, and the swooning of paparazzi brought out a negative edge to their relationship.

For the duration of their relationship, Stone and Garfield advocated for causes like autism awareness in 2014, youth empowerment, and climate change. Yet, despite the hype and their status as a beloved celebrity couple, the duo reportedly broke apart in 2015, citing busy schedules and the long-distance nature of their relationship as the last nail in the coffin. However, they remained on good terms and still maintained cordiality.

Emma Stone and Dave McCary: Love and parenthood

After breaking up with Andrew Garfield and her Oscar win for La La Land, Emma Stone made settling moves when she began dating former Saturday Night Live writer Dave McCary, marrying him in 2020 and welcoming their daughter in 2021. The duo met in December 2016 when the actress performed a sketch written by the segment director, fell in love, and embarked on a relationship that they largely kept and still keep private while making occasional public appearances such as at the 2019 SAG Awards.

In December 2019, Stone and McCary announced their engagement on Instagram, where the former showed off her pearl ring. In September 2020, they tied the knot after postponing plans during the early pandemic. Soon after, in 2021, the actress appeared cradling her baby bump in Los Angeles but chose not to comment, and in March of the same year, a daughter was born to them. Named Louise Jean McCary, it stood as a tribute to the actress’ grandmother, Jean Louise, who passed away a year before. While Jean happened to be the middle name of both Stone and her mother.

The struggles, hardships, and the way out

During the filming of Easy A, Emma Stone found out that she had asthma after suffering an on-set scare. However, her personal life had even more hardships along the way, coupled with her already-known anxiety and panic attack issues. Incidentally, her mother, Krista Stone, found out that she has a rare and aggressive type of triple-negative breast cancer. The news came to Stone at age 19 and devastated her, but in resilience, with chemotherapy and surgery, she came out cancer-free in 2010, prompting Stone to get matching tattoos with her.

Designed by Paul McCartney, the tattoos of birds’ feet symbolized their freedom and survival and came from direct inspiration from the mother-daughter duo’s favorite song, The Beatles’ ‘Blackbird’. Moreover, the actress simply wrote a letter to McCartney explaining the story and asking for the design, which he obliged to. Overall, beyond their shared hardships, the resilient duo now stands as a symbol of hope.