Emma Stone has had a slew of red carpet appearances and interviews lately to promote “The Amazing Spider-Man,” but it’s been nothing but a breeze for the charismatic actress.
It seems no one is immune to her understated beauty and self-deprecating charm. In fact, her New York Magazine profile was so glistening that some article commenters lambasted its “girl crush” tone. Her fashion sense has been the center of envious attention, and her off-screen relationship with her “Spider-Man” co-star Andrew Garfield (which she’s reticent to publicly discuss) seems to be going swimmingly.
Clearly, Stone is doing something right. Taking a page out of Dale Carnegie’s famous self-help book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” she’s smiling, listening and appreciating her rise to the (“Easy”) A-list, making us fall deeper in love with her one step at a time.
From her PowerPoint-fueled Hollywood start to her humble rise to success, here are six ways that Emma Stone has won us over:
Ambitious adolescence
At 14, Stone enrolled as a freshman at Xavier College Preparatory in Phoenix, Ariz., but she wanted to go to Los Angeles to be in the movies. So, as she recounted to Blackbook Magazine, in her freshman year she made a PowerPoint entitled “Project Hollywood 2004,” set it to Madonna’s “Hollywood” and used it to convince her parents to let her drop out of school and move to L.A. to audition for film and TV. Her mother stayed with her, homeschooling the Scottsdale, Ariz., native through high school.
Discerning choice of roles
Although “The Amazing Spider-Man” will likely be the role that reaches the biggest audience, her success has been climbing ever since she starred as the heart-meltingly hot high-school dream girl Jules in “Superbad.” She honed her comedic chops alongside co-star Jonah Hill before showing that con artists can be silly and sexy in “Zombieland,” and then, drum roll please, “Easy A” and “Crazy, Stupid, Love” helped perfect her smart, sexy, wry sense of humor which she followed with a serious turn in “The Help,” establishing a hilarious, serious, various persona for the Emma Stone we now know and love.
Self-deprecating humor
The way Stone combines her sarcastic humor with real vulnerability has proven to be her siren song. Her turn as Olive Penderghast, a high-school student who video diaries her misunderstood “Scarlet Letter”-inspired life in “Easy A,” allowed Stone to showcase a witty, cultured, willing-to-be-humbled character who’s nothing but unforgettable. We hope she won’t use her siren song to crash us into a cliff, though, because when she turns on the comedic charm, it’s impossible to look away.
Approachability
Between press tours, filming, photo shoots, interviews and maintaining some semblance of a personal life, the natural blonde seems nothing like the average 23-year-old. But compared to the likes of Angelina Jolie or Sean Penn — who are off doing good in Cambodia and Haiti, respectively — her stateside sensibility lends itself to greater approachability and relatability. We’re sure she’ll take up a cause or two when she’s older and more firmly entrenched in the Hollywood elite, but for now, Stone’s youthful, live-in-the-Hollywood moment sensibility is a surprisingly appreciated repose from the busy, hyperaffluent, seemingly out-of-touch movie star we’re used to.
Understated (yet unbelievable) looks
Sony Screen Gems president Clint Culpepper noted that with red hair, Stone looks less like “someone who will steal your boyfriend,” according to New York Magazine. But whether she’s a redhead, blonde or brunette, the actress, who’s now the new face of Revlon, could steal a boyfriend or two sporting any hair color. “The pretty thing … it was never a value to me growing up,” she told the magazine, adding that she signed with Revlon so young girls would know they don’t have to look like models to be beautiful. To judge for yourself whether she doesn’t have the looks of a model, here are a few of her “Spider-Man” red carpet looks. (For the record, yes, she’s model material.)
She’s not the center of the world (but she is)
Perhaps the most refreshing — although most difficult to believe — quality of Stone is that she isn’t too interested in herself or in sharing her stories. “I freak out having a Facebook” she told New York Magazine, noting that she only wants her closest friends to know the most personal details of her life, specifically concerning Garfield. Yet, considering the fact that her face seems to dominate the newstand (now on the July Vogue cover), if she wanted to tell story after self-centered story, we’re sure millions would be glad to perk up and listen.
