Emma Stone is one of the most popular actors in Hollywood, and she has reached a great point in her career where she knows that it is vital to challenge herself. The 28-year old star of ‘La La Land’ has shown great wisdom by accomplishing such a feat. She has always chosen work that managed to challenge her all the time.
It ranges from her Oscar-nominated performance in Birdman or her role of Sally Bowles in Cabaret. She understands that irrespective of success or failure if she puts her whole heart into the project, it always feels rewarding to her. Going through all the demanding jobs helped Stone prepare for her role in La La Land where her singing/acting/dancing skills were duly tested.
She plays the role of Mia, who is a young woman with great dreams of stardom. Sadly, she comes face to face with the harsh reality of show business. Her dreams are similar to that of Sebastian, played by Ryan Gosling. He is a jazz musician who wishes to open his nightclub. Under the guidance of writer/director Damien Chazelle, they carefully sing and dance their way.
The film had a major demand for cast due to which they had to go through three months of prep work before people could go in front of the cameras and even that wasn’t enough in some cases. Stone said that there were times when they were trying to balance one more than the other. Stone says that they felt like they were performing enough scenes but soon after they had to go off to tap class.
They underwent three months of singing and dancing. With Ryan staying busy with the piano, it felt special and luxurious to have three months. Compared to that, Stone had to master Cabaret within six weeks. This is the third movie that Emma Stone has made with Ryan Gosling, the other two being Gangster Squad and Crazy, Stupid, Love.
Most people know Stone from movies like The Amazing Spider-Man, The Help and Easy A. However, this native from Arizona got her start in a local musical theater. Over the years, she went through a lot of vocal training.
She is also convinced that having her Broadway run before La La Land, actually helped to get her ready for modern movie musical demands. It was vital considering the showstopper musical number present in the movie.
Emma Stone had to perform a tune during an audition which expresses all of the themes that are present in the film. Stone said that it was a very critical song since it was a major turning point in the career of her character.
Listening to that tune, we will get to hear her reveal what makes her want to do what she is currently doing. She talks about how she was inspired by her aunt, and there is some pain associated with that as well. It includes certain elements of disillusionment as well. The song provides a message regarding what they have been trying to do with the movie.
Meanwhile, Ryan Gosling was inspired by the song and dance moves. He admitted that he didn’t have a lot of knowledge in stage musicals, so it was right up to the alley for him because the ones he grew up on were musicals that were crafted for films.