By Katrina Deisler
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling (enough said) star in La La Land, which opens in cinemas January 13, but lucky attendees of the London Film Festival got to see it this week. The film, a classic Hollywood musical, is quite the leap for actress Emma Stone, who chatted with Vogue about her role.
Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot for V
The film follows Mia (Stone), an aspiring actress and Sebastian (Gosling), a hopeful jazz club owner as they navigate their careers and challenges of trying to “make it big” in the City of Angels. Not unlike her character, Stone herself was one of the thousands of hopefuls moving to LA each year to “get discovered” and lived in a two-bedroom apartment with her mother after first moving to the city.
After her career took off, Stone’s starred in many a successful film (getting an Oscar nomination for “Best Supporting Actress” in Birdman). After meeting and working with Ryan Gosling in two prior films (Crazy, Stupid, Love in 2011 and Gangster Squad in 2013), stone said of working with Gosling again, “It was nice to be friends with the person you’re doing all this crazy stuff with—learning to ballroom dance or sing duets live.”
Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott for Vogue
This role is different than any other Stone has held, but she said that starring onstage as Sally in Cabaret really gave her the confidence for her role in La La Land, “I felt more prepared than I ever would have before,” she said. And prepared she was, the film is already gaining rave reviews (and the actress won the coveted “Best Actress” award after the film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival).
Read the full interview here, or in the November issue of Vogue.