BAFTA winner Emma Stone (‘Poor Things’) on the role of awards: ‘They bring more attention to films people might not see’
Emma Stone won her second Best Actress BAFTA award on Sunday for Yorgos Lanthimos‘ “Poor Things,” which she also produced. Having previously prevailed for “La La Land” in 2017, she claimed this bookend by edging out rival nominees Sandra Hüller (“Anatomy of a Fall”), Carey Mulligan (“Maestro”), b Robbie (“Barbie”), Fantasia Barrino (“The Color Purple”), and Vivian Oparah (“Rye Lane”).
Gold Derby caught up with Stone backstage after she’d delivered a breezy, funny, light-hearted acceptance speech on stage at the Royal Festival Hall. She readily admitted that the excitement of winning awards does not wear off. “You put a lot of your heart and soul into making a film. A lot of people are away from their families for months at a time and you bond with this group of people and the excitement of it being received or loved by people is immensely meaningful.”
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Stone continued: “You don’t know if that’s going to happen or not, if it’s going to resonate with people the way that it does with you. But to also be a producer on this film — this was the first film that I produced alongside acting so it feels doubly meaningful because both in front and behind [of the camera] it was incredible to be a part of it.”
Stone was also nominated for both Best Picture and Best British Film for “Poor Things” alongside fellow producers Lanthimos, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, and Tony McNamara. They lost those races to “Oppenheimer” and “The Zone of Interest” respectively. The latter has benefitted greatly from the awards circuit as it received an increasing amount of attention. That, Stone told Gold Derby, is the purpose of awards and awards ceremonies in the film industry.
“I think, for a lot of films it brings people into theatres to see it. It brings more attention to films. But there are a lot of people who deserve awards but never get awards, which also creates a conversation about why, and hopefully culture changes more and more and expands more and more to include so many people in so many ways.”
She finished: “Awards are an interesting thing but I think they can be incredibly meaningful to films that people might not otherwise see.”
What is likely going to be just as meaningful is the prospect of winning a second Oscar for Best Actress. Her biggest competitor there is Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), who wasn’t nominated at BAFTA, so Stone has taken a huge step tonight toward Oscar number two.
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