艾玛·斯通：跟自己死磕的追梦女孩

Emma Stone’s favorite place for sushi in Los Angeles is a no-frills1） spot in a Sunset Boulevard2） strip mall3）. It’s here， having barely taken a seat that she starts telling me about her hiatal hernia4）. “I can’t have spicy foods，” Stone says. “I was born with it，” Stone notes cheerfully. She snaps apart her chopsticks. “I was like a little old man as a young lady.”

I first met Stone approximately 11 minutes ago， but it feels like I’m hanging with an old buddy. She huddles over the table mock-conspiratorially; drops5） callbacks to small talk we only just made like she’s citing long-cherished in-jokes. That Stone is preposterously6） affable should come as no surprise to anyone who’s seen her act. She’s a resolutely human-scale movie star—the type that somehow tricks you， onscreen， into forgetting that she’s a movie star at all.

Stone is often likened to her hero Diane Keaton7）， and the comparison tracks in a few ways： Both are beautiful， funny， repeat Woody Allen muses. But in Stone’s combination of gameness8）， wry wit and ability to make an overriding aura of good-heartedness come off as magnetic rather than dull， she’s got a lot in common with another hero of hers—Tom Hanks. She auditioned to act alongside him in Larry Crowne， back in 2011， not because of the script so much as the fact that she adores Hanks. She didn’t get the part， but that same year， Stone got top billing9） in The Help and stole scenes in Friends With Benefits and Crazy， Stupid， Love. Watching those movies and the others that Stone has elevated over the years—Superbad， Easy A， Zombieland， and The Amazing Spider-Man reboots， among them—you routinely get the impression that she’s operating an amused half-beat ahead of everyone else; that she’s having a blast on her own terms， unconcerned with whether anyone is even watching.

Stone lives in New York. She’s in Los Angeles right now because she has an excellent new movie coming out， called La La Land. It’s a musical， captivating in its sweetness， about two broke-and-scrappy Hollywood dreamers who fall in love while dancing and singing their way in spectator shoes across L.A. Like Stone herself—who sometimes seems like a screwball comedienne10） beamed into the present—the movie bridges classic and contemporary eras. “I needed someone who’d make the traditional musical feel relevant and accessible to people who think they don’t like musicals，” says La La Land writer and director Damien Chazelle11）. “Emma’s very modern， but there’s a timelessness to her， too.”

La La Land features Stone’s most bravado performance yet， and she’s emerged as an early Best Actress Oscar contender herself. When I mention this， she says， “I’m trying not to think about that”—her default mode being self-deprecation12）， not self-promotion; jokes， not bluster. “I just focus on what I’ve got to do at any one moment， and don’t necessarily think about where it’s all leading.”

Emma Stone recently turned 28， but she gave her first performance at age six， in a Thanksgiving-themed school musical called No Turkey for Perky. She grew up in Scottsdale， Arizona， the daughter of a homemaker mom and a contractor dad， with a younger brother. The Stones were supportive， permissive parents—“reins out，” as she puts it， when it came to discipline. “Like， ‘If you’re gonna drink at a party， call us and we’ll pick you up.’”

She kept doing plays and improv， and started training with a local acting coach who tapped13） some old Hollywood connections to set Stone up with an agent. So it was not outright delusion when Stone， at age 14， notified her parents that she wanted to drop out of high school， move to L.A. and try her best to go pro. She made her pitch in the form of a PowerPoint presentation， which she entitled “Project Hollywood.” Other parents may have been taken aback， but hers had come to know this hyperlogical side of Emma： When she was 12， she’d made a different PowerPoint presentation， successfully campaigning for them to homeschool her.

They decided to let her give acting a shot， too， and in January 2004， Stone moved with her mother into a unit at the Park LaBrea apartment complex， just south of Hollywood. Stone says， “I auditioned for three months pretty steadily， got absolutely nothing， and then they stopped sending me out.” Not ready to give up， she got hired making treats at a bakery for dogs—a ridiculous gig14） that she clung to “because I was， like， ‘Now I’m working， see？ I’m not getting auditions， but I gotta stay here.’” She booked just enough work to keep hope alive. “I did an episode of Malcolm in the Middle，” she says. “And an episode of Medium.”

Stone got crucial encouragement from casting director Allison Jones15）， a veteran comedy talent-spotter who helped launch the careers of James Franco16）. “I auditioned for Allison for three years，” Stone recalls. “She would bring me in for things and they’d never work， but then one Friday evening she called me and said， ‘Hey， my office isn’t even open tomorrow， but I want to put you on tape for something.’ It was Superbad.” Stone got the part， playing Jonah Hill17）’s high school crush Jules.

Ever since， Stone has steadily broadened her range， pushing into serious dramas. The unifying trait across her portrayals is a core decency—on display from The Help， where she played a privileged white woman in the Sixties-era South， to the Best Picture winner Birdman， where she got a Best Supporting Actress nomination playing Michael Keaton18）’s daughter， fresh out of rehab. This part is one of the very few times that Stone has portrayed a fuck-up. She describes herself as having an eager-to-please side， and she concedes that it’s hard to imagine her getting cast as a villain anytime soon. “If part of what you’ve craved in your life is to not upset anybody，” Stone says， “it’s easy to be drawn to characters that aren’t gonna upset anybody.”

One night in 2013， though， while shooting Birdman， Stone lost her shit—and it felt fantastic. The film， which director Alejandro González Iñárritu19） wove together from a series of extremely long takes， demanded not just emotional rawness from Stone but technical exactitude. “I had to come in at the very end of this one scene， and it was so scary， because everything was timed out.” She botched20） a take. “Alejandro told me， ‘Emma， you have to go faster around the corner or it’s going to ruin the movie！’ And I was like， this is a horror， this is so hard， it’s actually insane. Later that night， Edward Norton21） and I were shooting on a rooftop at， like， 2 a.m. We’d done this scene 30 times， and Alejandro wasn’t getting what he wanted. He said， ‘Maybe it’s not going to work.’ I went to my dressing room， pacing， like， I can’t do it. I’m losing my fucking mind. This thing came over me. I’m usually a people-pleaser， but I felt like， fuck it. I don’t even care anymore. So when we went back to do the scene， I was crazy. And Alejandro goes， ‘Beautiful—there it is！’” Stone shakes her head at the memory. “I wasn’t trying to make it perfect anymore.”

La La Land， like Birdman， depended not only on an emotionally authentic performance from Stone， who is onscreen for almost the entire movie， but precise choreography22）， too， which she had to nail over a daunting series of uninterrupted takes. When she was first considering the role， Chazelle recalls， “She said， ‘How much prep time do you have， because I don’t wanna half-ass this—if I’m gonna tap-dance23）， I wanna learn how to tap dance. I don’t want to cheat it with forgiving camera angles and misleading close-ups.’ That’s not normal for actors， or for people， period： wanting to make something harder for yourself.”

When I ask if she’s considered writing a script herself， or directing one， Stone’s eyes widen. “Writing’s interesting， but I’ve never done it in any way，” she says. “And directing， God， that’s a hard job. It’s all the things you don’t think about as an actor. ‘We lost a location.’ ‘That costume is wrong.’

“Coming out of improv，” she continues， “where everything’s so reliant on the team， it’s still hard for me to be out front—even when it’s a big role. I like being a cog in the machine.”

艾玛·斯通在洛杉矶最喜欢的寿司店是位于日落大道一处购物中心内的一家朴实无华的小店。在这家店里，斯通刚一落座就和我说起了她所患的食管裂孔疝。“我不能吃辣的东西。”她说。“天生就这样，”斯通欢快地讲道，“啪”的一声将筷子分开，“我一个年轻女士倒像是小老头一样。”

我大约11分钟前才第一次見到斯通，但却感觉像是和一位老朋友在一起。她像要密谋什么似的从桌上凑过来，重新提起我们刚刚闲聊的内容，就像回想起她长久以来喜欢的老友间的笑话。斯通很随和，这看似反常，但看过她表演的人都不会对此感到意外。她绝对是一位接地气的电影明星——总会在银幕上迷惑你，让你完全忘记她是个电影明星。

斯通常常被比作她的崇拜对象黛安·基顿。两人确实有很多相似之处：都很漂亮、风趣，都曾多次出演伍迪·艾伦影片的女主角。不过，斯通勇敢顽强、诙谐机智，并且能让心地善良这一最显要的品质显得极富魅力而非沉闷乏味，鉴于此，她倒是与她的另一位偶像汤姆·汉克斯有很多相同之处。2011年，她去参加电影《拉瑞·克劳》的试镜，并不是因为剧本，而是因为她崇拜汉克斯，想和他一起出演。她没有得到那个角色，但那一年，她领衔主演了电影《相助》，并在影片《朋友也上床》和《疯狂愚蠢的爱》中成功抢镜。看看这几部影片，以及这些年因斯通参演而备受欢迎的其他几部影片，如《太坏了》《绯闻计划》《僵尸之地》和《超凡蜘蛛侠》重拍系列等，你往往会觉得她的表演比其他人要快半拍，而且快得很开心。无论她演什么都可以很嗨，不管有没有人观看。

斯通住在纽约。目前她在洛杉矶是因为她的一部很棒的新片《爱乐之城》要上映（编注：英文原文发表于2016年12月）。这是一部歌舞片，以其甜蜜动人引人入胜，讲述了贫困但敢于拼搏的两个人怀揣好莱坞梦想，坠入爱河，穿着双色布洛克鞋载歌载舞，跑遍了整个洛杉矶。斯通有时候看起来就像神经喜剧的女演员，从过去穿越到现在。这部电影也同她一样，连通了古典与现代。“有些人觉得自己不喜欢歌舞片。我需要一个人，能让这些人觉得传统歌舞片与自己息息相关，能让他们看懂并欣赏歌舞片，”《爱乐之城》的编剧兼导演达米恩·查泽雷说道，“艾玛非常时尚，但她也有一种超越时间的美。”

在《爱乐之城》里，斯通贡献出了到目前为止最为冒险的表演，也因此很早地成为奥斯卡最佳女主角奖的有力竞争者。当我提到这一点时，她说：“我尽量不去想这些。”她习惯于自我贬低，而不是自我标榜;习惯于玩笑，而不是吹嘘。“我只关注自己在某一时刻所做的事情，不刻意去想这些事情会带来什么。”

艾玛·斯通刚刚28岁，但她第一次表演是六岁的时候，参演一部名为《火鸡不给傲慢的人》的感恩节主题的校园歌舞剧。她在亚利桑那州的斯科特斯戴尔长大，父亲是一位承包商，母亲是家庭主妇，还有一个弟弟。斯通夫妇对孩子们很支持，也很宽容。当被问及父母对他们的管教时，斯通的表述是“放养”。“比如他们会说，‘你如果要在派对上喝酒，给我们打电话，我们去接你。’”

她后来继续演戏和做即兴表演，并开始跟随当地一名表演教练进行训练。这名教练着手利用原先在好莱坞的关系，为斯通找到了一位经纪人。所以，斯通14岁时并不是完全凭着幻想对她的父母说她想放弃高中学业，搬到洛杉矶，尽她最大的努力去做职业演员。为了说服父母，她做了一个PPT，标题就叫“好莱坞计划”。其他父母或许会极为震惊，但艾玛的父母早就知道她极为理智的一面：她在12岁时就做过一个不寻常的PPT展示，成功说服了父母，让他们自己在家教她。

他们也决定让斯通去尝试表演。2004年1月，斯通和妈妈一起搬入帕克·拉布里亚公寓楼的一间公寓，就在好莱坞的南边。斯通说：“我不断地试镜，试了三个月，却什么机会也没得到，之后他们就不再送我去试镜了。”她并不准备放弃，于是去宠物店找了份做狗粮的工作——这是一份荒谬的工作，但她坚持去做。“因为我的意思就是‘现在我在这儿工作，看到了吗？我不是要试镜，但我必须留下来。’”为了维持希望，她预约了很多工作。“我在《马尔柯姆的一家》中的一集里跑过龙套，”她说，“在《灵媒缉凶》中也演过一集。”

斯通从选角导演艾莉森·琼斯那儿获得了极大的鼓励。琼斯是老牌喜剧星探，曾经帮詹姆斯·弗兰科开拓事业。“我为艾莉森试镜三年，”斯通回忆道，“她会带我去参加很多试镜，但都没能成功。后来一个星期五的晚上，她打电话给我说，‘嘿，我办公室明天不开门，但我想让你去试个镜。’那部电影是《太坏了》。”斯通得到了这个角色，扮演乔纳·希尔的高中暗恋对象茱尔斯。

自此之后，斯通稳定地拓展戏路，向严肃的剧情片进军。她所刻画的人物具有统一的核心特点——端庄得体，通情达理。从《相助》到《鸟人》，都是如此。在《相助》中，她扮演20世纪60年代美国南方一位高贵的白人女性。而在曾获奥斯卡最佳摄影奖的《鸟人》中，她扮演迈克尔·基顿刚从戒毒所出来的女儿，并凭借该片获得奥斯卡最佳女配角提名。斯通演过的问题角色屈指可数，《鸟人》中的角色是其中之一。按她描述，自己有极力去讨人开心的一面，因而她承认很难想象自己会很快出演反面角色。“你如果在生活中就渴望不要惹恼别人，那就很容易被不会惹人生气的角色所吸引。”斯通说。

然而，2013年的一个夜晚，在拍摄《鸟人》时，斯通发飙了——但那让她感觉好极了。这部电影由亚利桑德罗·冈萨雷斯·伊纳里多执导，他要把一系列超长镜头编排到一起，这要求斯通不仅要表现出真实、自然的情绪，表演也要精准到位。“我必须在一个场景的最后一刻出镜，这太可怕了，因为所有的一切都是定好时的。”她搞砸了一个镜头。“亚利桑德罗对我说，‘艾玛，你在角落里要走快一点，不然会毁掉这部电影！’我当时觉得，这太恐怖了，太难了，简直不可理喻。之后，我和爱德华·诺顿在屋顶上拍到了好像夜里两点钟。这个场景我们拍了30次，但都不是亚利桑德罗想要的。他说，‘可能拍不出来了。’我回到化妆间，来回踱步，觉得自己就是做不到。我快疯了。那种感觉很难受。我通常是一个讨人喜欢的人，但那会儿我觉得，去他的，我不在乎了。所以当我们再回去拍那个场景时，我怒气冲天。然后亚利桑德罗说，‘漂亮，就是这样！’”斯通回忆这段往事时摇了摇头，“我不会再追求完美了。”

在《爱乐之城》中，斯通几乎从头到尾都在银幕上。和《鸟人》一样，这部电影要求斯通不仅表演出真情实感，还要注意舞蹈的精确性，她需要成功演好一连串颇具挑战性的不间断镜头。根据查泽雷的回忆，斯通在第一次考虑这个角色时，“她说，‘有多长的准备时间？因为我不想敷衍了事，如果我需要跳踢踏舞，我就去学踢踏舞。我不想通过那些容许演员犯错的拍摄角度和误导人的特写镜头去骗人。’通常不会有演员或任何人愿意这样做：愿意给自己增加难度。就是这样。”

当我问斯通是否考虑过自己写剧本或者自己导电影时，她一下睁大了眼睛。“写剧本很有趣，但我从来没做过，”她说，“至于当导演，上帝啊，那可是苦差事。尽是当演员时不用去想的那些事。‘位置不对。’‘服装错了。’”

“我的演员生涯从即兴表演开始，”她继续说道，“做即兴表演，什么事都靠团队，直到现在，对我来讲，要站在前面领导大家，甚至只是演一个大角色，还是很难的。我喜欢做机器里的一个齿轮。”