Emma Stone began her acting career with small roles in television shows before making her debut in the 2007 movie Superbad. After her child and teen roles in TV, Stone wanted to break through into mainstream Hollywood, but it was a challenging task. The La La Land actress encountered multiple rejections along the journey to her stardom.
Stone is currently a highly sought-after actress in Hollywood with three Academy Award nominations, out of which she won one for Best Actress. Stone openly talks about her failures, some of which were pretty hurtful.
Emma Stone Was Rejected For A Superhero Role
Emma Stone auditioned for the role of Claire Bennet in the American superhero TV show, Heroes. In an interview with The Independent, the Cruella actress shared her awkward and humiliating experience auditioning for the role. The Easy A actress revealed that the actress who played the role, Hayden Panettiere, had already been selected before Stone even had a chance to audition.
The casting directors were impressed with Panettiere’s performance and informed her right after her audition that she had got the part. Stone, who was waiting for her turn, could hear people talking inside about Panettiere’s selection. The Amazing Spider-Man actress shared:
“I could hear them through the wall telling Hayden Panettiere, ‘You got the part. You’re the best.’ And then I went in right after her.”
Stone’s audition was clearly a mere formality and the actress recalled being deeply hurt by the experience. The Favourite actress even doubted her skills, sharing, “I was like, ‘F**k, man! Is it never going to be my time?'”. Heroes went on to garner positive reviews from audiences and ran for four seasons before its concept gradually faded away.
Emma Stone’s Character Improvisation For Her Rejected Audition
Emma Stone’s Heroes rejection story had a satisfying ending as the Maniac actress was offered her breakout debut role in Superbad just two weeks after the awkward audition. Earlier too, the Zombieland actress had shared her rejection story from the Nickelodeon show, All That, when she was just 12 years old.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Stone disclosed that she had unsuccessfully auditioned for a role in the children’s show and even did some spot improvisations. Jimmy Fallon was impressed with the Crazy, Stupid, Love actress when she shared that she came up with innovative characters for her audition – a possessed babysitter and a cheerleader who couldn’t spell what she was cheering.
The Movie 43 actress definitely has to thank these rejections for paving the way to her stardom, as Jimmy Fallon rightfully noted after hearing the story. The 34-year-old actress will be next seen in the upcoming promising projects, Poor Things and And. A Cruella second part is also in development with Emma Stone set to reprise the Disney villainess in a prequel-sequel story.
Source: The Independent
