Starting a career in acting is a tough job, and for Emma Stone, it turns out things became that much tougher after a harrowing experience. With stardom, spotlight, and fame comes a series of problems most actors get blindsided by. And that is completely excluding the uphill battle they have to survive to get to that point. This is why, although a lot of people try their luck to step in front of the camera, they eventually turn around and give up on that life.
However, the ones who decide to stay sure do handle their fair share of problems every day, even after years of trying to gain their footing in that world. And when these stories are publicized, they are often shocking enough to spellbind you.
Such a story was recounted by none other than Oscar-winner Emma Stone in an interview where she mentioned the emotional hit she took from the experience. According to her, she went into a meltdown, and now even after decades she still fears about her future in the industry as the memory haunts her from time to time.
Emma Stone’s harrowing audition experience
Emma Stone started acting as a hobby, but later as she appreciated the confidence acting brought her, she wanted to make a career out of it. However, that was easier said than done. According to her, her late teens were a hectic time as she was always auditioning and was promptly rejected.
One of the toughest times of her life was, she recalled when she went in for the audition of the sci-fi series Heroes. Although she really wanted that part, her performance did not match the casting director’s preferences, so it eventually went to Hayden Panettiere. She elaborated, “I could hear that, in the other room, a girl had just gone in and they were saying, ‘You are our pick … On a scale of 1 to 10, you’re an 11.'”
And being a struggling actor, always trying to do her best in auditions, Stone did not take it well. She noted that she “went home and just had this meltdown,” which made the experience even more bitter.
However, she also noted that this was not even close to her worst audition experience. Although, this time what made it all the more harrowing is the way things escalated and also as she noted that the way her performance turned out was not entirely her fault. The Birdman star recalled,
“My worst memory was when I wasn’t allowed to have my lines before the actual audition took place. I was 16 at the time and I was having trouble getting them right, and this woman [a casting director] started screaming at me and telling me how unprofessional I was.”
This would have been a damaging experience for anybody, but as a teen with hectic audition schedules around the clock, it left its imprint on her memory.
Emma Stone still struggles with thoughts of future
As mentioned before, even after gaining significant recognition, it is never easy to keep things consistent. This is why, a lot of actors take hiatuses or just retire from the industry never to be heard from again. As Stone noted,
“You’re always worried about landing the next role, or how your last film did. I think that acting is the kind of profession where you’re always a bit worried about the future. You can be starring in one great film after another and still feel anxious about being able to find the same good roles.”
And so, anxiety for the future never really goes away. Especially as she also commented on how difficult it can be to be in a place where everybody is vying for the same position. “It’s an exciting place to be and, in some ways, disturbing. It’s not easy to live in a city where almost everyone has the same dream,” she explained.
However, she seems extremely thankful to a casting director she was in contact with during the initial days of her career who helped her to get her first big-screen break. Stone further added,
“I had a casting director, Allison Jones, she called me in for a bunch of things in those three years between 15 and 18 when I was auditioning all the time.”
And although she was almost always rejected, things changed suddenly when she had Stone come in and audition for something on Saturday when no one was coming in, which turned out to be her debut movie Superbad.
As a result, even with the constant struggle to maintain her position in the industry and doubts about the future, she seems extremely happy about the journey she has taken. And now with her movie Poor Things all set to release later this year, fans are happy too, to once again watch her bringing a masterpiece to life on the big screen.
Poor Things is expected to release later this year, although a specific date has not been disclosed yet.
Source: Psychology
