Emma Stone had quite the night at the Cannes Film Festival while promoting her newest film Eddington, alongside actors Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Austin Butler, Michael Ward, and Luke Grimes.
First, it was the little buzzing bee that caused the actress to duck in a dramatic manner, pointing at the flying insect before leaning on her fellow co-stars in an attempt to get away.
Highlights
- At Cannes Festival, Emma Stone reunited with a reporter who called her by her real name, Emily, and the moment changed his career and life.
- Emma Stone explained that she changed her professional name from Emily to Emma due to another actress with the same name.
- Emma shared that acting helped her manage childhood panic attacks by channeling her energy and overcoming fear.
Next was the stunning seven minute standing ovation after the project’s debut.
But the most memorable by far was her sweet reunion with a reporter and film critic from Kazakhstan.
Emma Stone had a heartwarming reunion with a reporter she met last year
Image credits: Pool/Getty
During the panel, he stood up and began to express how grateful he was for the actress and an interaction they shared a while back.
“I’d like to thank you for quite literally changing my life,” he said. “Just a year ago, we were at the very same press room, where I addressed you by your real name: Emily.”
Indeed, Stone’s government name is Emily Jean Stone but she decided to change her professional name to Emma after realizing there was already another actress named Emily Stone.
Image credits: Festival de Cannes
Image credits: Festival de Cannes
“Yes, very good to see you,” the Cruella star said, seeming to recall their meet-up.
The reporter then continued, “The video of this, and your kind and warm response, it went viral in Western media and obviously in my country, Kazakhstan, and it has skyrocketed my career and it has changed my personal life — literally for saying one word.”
The Oscar winner added, “That was incredibly sweet, and I’m so happy that a name could do that.”
The film critic's life was changed from one simple word
Image credits: Festival de Cannes
As said by Daily Mail, Stone had been promoting her film Kinds of Kindness in 2024 when a reporter came up to her and called her Emily to which she excitedly responded, “That’s my name!”
In the past, her The Curse co-star Nathan Fielder also acknowledged the name change, saying in an interview in 2024, “Her name’s Emily but she goes by Emma professionally.
“So when there’s people that don’t know her, I end up saying Emma. But I’m going to just say Emily from here on.”
When the cast was asked about the movies they made and their identities, the Mandalorian star took a few moments of silence before proudly asserting how important it was for these stories to be told.
Earlier in the conference, he’d shared, “I want people to be safe and to be protected, and I want very much to live on the right side of history. I’m an immigrant. My parents are refugees from Chile. I myself was a refugee.”
He explained how he had “fled a dictatorship” and considered himself to be incredibly “privileged” growing up in the U.S. after “asylum in Denmark.”
The reporter thanked Stone for changing his life
Image credits: orazkereybaev
In the past, Stone herself has opened up on how her life changed. Rather than one simple word, it was the entirety of acting that not only gave her a career but helped ground her in more ways than just one.
“Acting is therapy, especially as a kid, it was nice to have an outlet like that when I was really struggling with panic attacks,” she said to The Talks.
When asked how, she said it was all about connection.
Image credits: Pool/Getty
“Performing helped me as a kid to channel my energy somewhere else, to put it out instead of turning it inward,” later adding, “Being on stage early on made me less afraid to try things that are challenging and scary.”
For the actress, acting was “a kind of suspension” of various things happening at once. As an example, she had a pinched nerve on her left side while filming La La Land and had pains shooting through her eyes every time she was ballroom dancing.
“But I still got to pour everything into it and not worry about being technically perfect,” Stone recalled.
Stone has always been open about her personal life — from her name to all the love she has for acting
Image credits: Michael Buckner/Golden Globes 2024/Getty
Performing isn’t exactly the cure for anxiety, she said, but it’s a great way to change that panic-like “excess energy” into a new form. When she’s on stage, singing a song instead of reciting a monologue, the audience tends to melt away and it’s just her — transported back into her bedroom where no eyes are watching.
She reassured, “[Now], I’m not so hard on myself — a lot of it was the pressure that I would put on myself. I’ve learned that anxiety in its essence is fear.”
Her real name was met with warm reactions online
