Emma Stone covers the November issue of VOGUE. She is, currently, the frontrunner for Best Actress Oscar for her performance in La La Land. La La Land opens in December but has already been screened in Venice, Telluride, and at TIFF and was overwhelmingly well-received. Sarah, who is generally anti-musical, couldn’t even resist it. Read her review here.
I love the photo they chose for the cover. It reminds me of how magazine covers used to be in the 80s. Is it twee? Maybe a little. But, to me, not pukey twee. Or maybe that’s because I like her so much. I like that the photo is focusing on her eyes, how expressive they are, and I like her with a pixie cut like this. She looks great in a pixie cut.
As for the article – this is all about the undeniable talent and versatility of Emma Stone, who sings and dances and is serious and funny and, in a relatively short time, has become one of the most respected actors of her generation. Oh, and she once played backup tambourine for Prince at the Saturday Night Live 40th anniversary party. While her foot was bleeding. It’s a fairy tale. Which is supposed to mirror the fairy tale told in La La Land, where dreamers come to chase their dreams. And Emma’s the one whose dream came true. Super meta.
Emma gives just enough here to make it interesting, just enough to spin off quotes that can be covered on the blogs – the way I’m covering it here – without risking one major headline that would obscure the point, the point being that there’s a trophy at the end of this ride. She tells a story about being at a party at Paris Hilton’s house and walking in on someone vomiting into a closet. She acknowledges that she is indeed single now after ending her four year relationship with Andrew Garfield, “Someone I still love very much”. My favourite part, however, is when she talks about gender pay equality and catches herself using the kind of language that betrays the way we’ve been conditioned to think:
“We should all be treated fairly and paid fairly. I’ve been lucky enough to have equal pay to my male costars.” She stops herself. “Not ‘lucky.’ I’ve had pay equal to my male costars in the past few films. But our industry ebbs and flows in a way that’s like, ‘How much are you bringing into the box office?’ ‘How much are you the draw or is the other person the draw?’ I felt uncomfortable talking to my agent or lawyer about it because I was like, ‘Do people want to see me as much as they want to see Steve Carell?’ It’s a weird conversation to have because it’s trying to see oneself from the outside.
It’s automatic, isn’t it? To describe equality as a fortunate circumstance as opposed to a standard? And then to question the expectation of equality based on comparison? Oh wait. If I ask for what I think I deserve, will people think that I think that I’m as good as X, or Y? And if they do, will they then think I’m full of myself? That is the ongoing indignity of existing for so long in second class. Not only do you have to fight to get a seat in first class, you spend the entire time there doubting whether or not you belong.
Click here to read the full VOGUE piece on Emma Stone and to see more photos.
