Looking amazing in the lingerie from the scene we watched her perform in for Easy A, Emma Stone confidently walked over to talk to us about her new racy role still rocking the sexy number.
Q: We understand you actually sing in the film.
Emma Stone: I do. I’m already kind of embarrassed enough that I have to parade around in this and dance in front of all of my peers so I was like if we could just not use my voice on playback that would be great. Just to take that concern off of hearing my voice over and over because there’s a reason I’m not recording an album.
Q: When did you first read the script and what was it about the story you really liked?
Stone: I read it almost a year ago way before Screen Gems had gotten it. I fell in love with it pretty much immediately. The way it’s written is just so wonderful and the dialogue is great. It’s very rare to find a comedy that’s really genuinely funny with a character that I would genuinely want to play and spend two months working on. The writer is just so smart and hilarious. It was very natural thing to want to do immediately I think.
Q: Is this close to “Superbad” humor wise?
Stone: I would probably say that the feel of it, this is the most like “Superbad” of any of the movies I’ve done far since “Superbad,” but it’s not comparable at all. It’s an R-rated comedy that has to do with a subject matter that is adult, but dealing with it in high school and so in that way.
Q: What was it about the character that made you want to be Olive?
Stone: When I read it – it was strange. It sounds like a horrible thing to say but I don’t mean it in any egocentric way generally, but when I read it, I was like I can’t really imagine not playing Olive and how sad I would feel if someone else were to play Olive. I fell in love with her.
Q: Did you identify with her a lot?
Stone: Her sense of humor and the way she talks. She can be relatively obnoxious as a girl as I can be much of the time. She’s a good person at heart. I liked her whole reason for doing this was just because she didn’t have anything to lose and why not go with this rumor and see what happens. It ends up not turning out very well at all, but she’s a confident chick. She’s popping out of a wheelbarrow in a Burlesque costume. I admire her strength a lot.
Q: Amanda Bynes’ character really has it out for you. Why?
Stone: She’s a very Christian girl at school who is the head of the cavalcade of crazy girls and boys that believe in purity. I am dressed like this and acting as ridiculous as I can just to shock her really. It’s kinda like the puritans against the liberals and I’m very liberal. I’m not doing any of the things that people are saying I’m doing, but I decide why not just go with it and play with this rumor and it just makes her livid.
Q: Can you talk about working with Penn?
Stone: Oh he’s great. He’s been so much fun. He’s doing a perfect job of Woodchuck Todd because he’s committing to this hardcore. He’s in blue paint and a woodchuck costume. He’s got such a sweetness about him. It’s great.
Q: How do you not get the blue paint on you?
Stone: I don’t know. It’s just not coming off of him. I’m afraid for later when he has to take it off. I don’t know how he’s going to wash it off.
Q: Is today the only day he’s worn it?
Stone: Yeah. I’m sure this has been tested somewhere in a science trial. Amanda did a movie called “Big Fat Liar.” Paul Giamatti is in it. He gets in the shower and they put dye in the shower. Remember he’s dyed blue?
Q: How much rehearsal and practice time went into this scene?
Stone: We did about three dance rehearsals and yesterday we had a solid six hour rehearsal with the pom team and the band and the cheerleaders and kind of rehearsed with them. It’s so funny because the pom team and cheerleaders and everybody are the actual teams from this high school which is actually so cool. They’re great.
Q: How do you feel about today’s costume?
Stone: I feel 100% silly. I’m just trying to act confident. Otherwise I feel rather silly. I kind of like the Moulin Rouge influence.
Q: What was your high school experience like?
Stone: I was only in high school for a couple of months. I went to an all girls Catholic high school and then I decided to leave and move to LA to do this which I can’t believe here I am now. That was 5 ½ years ago.
Q: So can you relate to girls that age with the pressures you’re faced with whether you’re in high school or not?
Stone: Absolutely. I think that’s what I liked about Olive so much to bring it back to that. She rises above it and senses and realizes this is just temporary and this is high school and everyone will forget this and everyone will move on and what can she do to have as much fun to get through it as she can. It kinda bites her in the ass, but it’s also really funny.
Q: That’s so ballsy of her.
Stone: How rare is it that somebody is like, “Oh you’re a slut,” and you’re like, “Okay.” She’s wearing corsets and she really goes for it.
Q: And she does that to go along with the rumors about her?
Stone: Yeah, well the rumor gets a little out of control. She starts making money off it – it’s a whole thing.
Q: Are people starting to believe the rumors because she does go along with it?
Stone: Oh absolutely. Yeah, yeah people definitely believe the rumors. The same amount of people who believe the rumors, there’s an equal amount of people that know this is not true. The people who really know Olive well know this isn’t true, but it’s interesting to see how some of her closest friends react to her in that kind of circumstance. It’s a fun story.
Q: Is this the first time you’ve danced and sang in a movie? I know you played the guitar in “The Rocker.”
Stone: Yeah I sang, but that wasn’t my voice on the soundtrack though. In “House Bunny” I rapped and danced a little bit at the end. This is by far the craziest thing in a movie.
Q: Do you have a background in singing and dancing? Did you go to school?
Stone: I did. I did musical theatre and I took dance lessons for 10 years. I sang for eight years, but that was all a long time ago. I’m so sore right now and I’m so out of shape. It’s just depressing. I’ve been squatting in that wheelbarrow and I’m like, “Ow, ow, ow.” It’s horrible. I used to be able to move.
Q: This movie is on your shoulders basically. Is this the first time?
Stone: Yeah. It’s been wild. It’s been crazy. It feels different than I thought it might. I never thought in a million years that that would ever be the case. It’s wild. This is my third movie in a row so I’ve been working for eight months. It’s kinda natural. It’s just like oh another set and you’re working and you kinda forget that you’re here all day every day. I don’t really think about it like that. I just think about getting my job done. We’ll see how it turns out.
Q: How nervous were you for this scene?
Stone: I haven’t had a minute to think in eight months. It’s been like I knew it was going to happen. It’s been fun because I do have that background in musical theatre and I don’t really get a chance to do this at all. I figure Olive doesn’t have to be that great at it because she’s not a singing / dancing girl. She’s just doing this as a fun cap on this whole rumor she’s starting. I know I don’t have to look incredible and dance incredible. I know that it just has to be a regular girl doing this.
Q: It looks like it would be so much fun.
Stone: Oh it definitely is. You’re dancing around in a boa. I never thought I’d get a chance to do that. It’s not too shabby.
