Emma Stone, Bugonia, interview – iO Donna

THEhe first thing that strikes you about Emma Stone? The skin is snowy (“Almost no pigment” she observes). When she was an insecure girl from Arizona, a novice actress landed in sunny Los Angeles, that whiteness represented a complex against which react to spray tanning shotswith sometimes hilarious results. But the age of uncertainty has long since passed: today, at 36, he is not “just” a star awarded with two Oscars, he is much more. She produces quality series and films (together with her husband, the comedian and director Dave McCary) and for herself favors daring roles.

«I am attracted to materials that ask questions, rather than offer answers. Critical thinking is the most precious resource you can have” he explains. The proof again? The bizarre Louise ofEddington by Ari Aster, just arrived in theaters, and the complex Michelle of Bugonia by Yorgos Lanthimos, on screens from October 23rd. At this point “Emma” can have the luxury of being called by her real name, “Emily” (who has heard of her colleague of the same name Emily Stone, who pushed her to opt for a pseudonym?) and, above all, she can have the luxury of saying what’s on her mind. To the point of supporting the existence of UFOs.

«One of my favorite figures is Carl Sagan (the American astronomer and astrophysicist who died in 1996, ed): I fell madly in love with his philosophy, his science, his extraordinary intelligence. He considered it narcissistic to delude ourselves that we are alone in this immense universe. So yes, I say it: I believe in aliens!” he explained at the Venice Film Festival, streamed worldwide.

Emma Stone in the abyss of Bugonia

Statement – ​​obviously – not out of context. Behind the classicizing title of Bugonia (a term used by Virgil in the Georgics when he tells how a swarm of bees was generated from the carcass of a dead animal) hides a hyper-contemporary story, which speaks of conspiracy theories, rabbit holes, the effect whereby on the internet one ventures into an infinite chain of connected contents, losing perception of time and, in some cases, of reality) and echo chambers. of the echo”: the algorithm offers us contents that confirm our certainties, never different points of view).

But let’s start from the plot: two cousins ​​(Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis), obsessed with the idea of ​​a Martian conspiracy against the earththey kidnap their alleged accomplice (Stone, in fact), CEO of a pharmaceutical bioengineering company, and chain her in the basement. After shaving it cleanly, convinced that it communicates with space through its hair. Without being able to bend it, however: used to exercising command, she immediately tries to take it over in the middle of a surreal situation…

«Michelle is an incredible character – the matter-of-fact way she handles thingsself-confidence, being “robotic”, almost a supervillain. And then – suddenly – the revelation of her inner life, and that vulnerability that emerges when she is deprived of resources. It was great, I loved it!”.

The film is a remake of the South Korean Save the Green Planet! from 2003: it is more than twenty years old…
Yes, yet both Yorgos and I saw in it a sort of twisted, funny and terrifying mirror of today’s world, where many feel neglected and forgotten, victims of the “strong powers”.

She is a producer of Bugonia: what pushed you to take on a double commitment?
Immediately after reading the script I understood that the themes are relevant, and that they become more so with each passing day. In the last year alone there have been so many incredible events… The story of Luigi Mangione, for example (the twenty-six year old indicted for the murder of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the main private health insurance company in the United States, ed.). We are diving deeper and deeper into technology, disconnecting ourselves from actual connections.

It’s not everyone who cuts their hair completely for one part. They just remember Demi Moore for Private JaneNatalie Portman for V for Vendetta; Charlize Theron for Mad Max: Fury Road and Vicky Krieps, the last in chronological order, for Love Me Tenderpresented at Cannes.
It wasn’t traumatic! When I knew I should do it, I just told Yorgos that he should do it too, out of solidarity! And so it was. We had to shave our heads again every couple of days, but it wasn’t too much of a preparation process to undergo in the morning. What will it be? Anyone who faces hair loss from chemotherapy is brave, not me.

And, in any case, it’s little compared to the performance she underwent for Lanthimos in Poor Creatures! Danger is his job.
No! There are many in truly dangerous situations while we, after all, tell stories that are sometimes funny, sometimes devastating and tragic, but stories nonetheless. Of course, we hope they have an impact, but it is a privileged, exhilarating profession, an enormous gift. As challenging as it is, there is nothing risky about it. «And what could the risk be? For people to comment: “Oh, that’s stupid, I didn’t like it”… So what?” intervenes Lanthimos, who together with Plemons – was next to her for the entire interview, wanting to underline how a film is the result of a collective effort, without excessive protagonism.

By the way, do you already have another joint project?
It would be the sixth… No, not yet.

And speaking of “challenging”, the filming required a considerable physical performance.
Harder than I imagined, in fact. But having shot with this crew often, and with Jesse in Kind of Kindness, it was a space where I felt safe. Even when I was chained to my cot, covered in antihistamine cream, bald and cold, I was happier than I would have been anywhere else!

Better “tortured on set” than on the red carpet?
(smiles) I have developed a unique strategy, but it is an effective defense mechanism. I call it “the avatar outside of me”. In my mind I separate: there is the person who presents themselves in public, and then there is the person who I am with my friends and family. A form of schizophrenia that, paradoxically, keeps me healthy. I hope…