Emma Enchanted

Oscar-winning actress Emma Stone slips into tennis whites in her new film Battle of the Sexes, a big-screen account of the legendary 1973 showdown between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. Here, she talks to costar Sarah Silverman (who lays women’s tennis promoter Gladys Heldman) about what’s changed since then, what hasn’t, and getting what’s yours

- Kimberly Cutter

Do I want to do a Q&A with Emma Stone for Marie Claire? Fuck yeah, I do. I have enjoyed the Emma Stone of it all for a while now. Since Superbad, maybe? But she really grabbed me when she did a bit at the 2012 Academy Awards. After that, I was totally smitten. She was in a red dress with a big bow, presenting an award for visual effects, and her comedy skills were tight. Ben Stiller and Jonah Hill were perfect straight men— parts usually reserved for women while the male comic sparkles. With no crazy costume or visual joke, and far beyond the comic skill set of the average actor, she killed it. The writing was adorable, but the performance was everything. [The bit had Stone milk her first appearance as a presenter.] As a comedy snob, I was officially wowed. That’s when the name “Emma Stone” was forever embedded in my bean. Then, last spring, I got to work with her on this here movie, Battle of the Sexes. All of my scenes were with Emma, and I found out more good news: This lil’ mama is not just über talented, she is the loveliest, most thoughtful, real-deal person on either side of the Mississippi.

The crew felt like a traveling carnival in only the best ways. From the hair-and-makeup department to the director of photography—all had come to this movie from La La Land. They seemed to be a family, traveling with Emma from movie set to movie set. It wasn’t like a clique; it really was like a family. One that says, “Hey, come join us! We are a band of misfits, and you belong!” And that vibe and warmth starts with a wacky, red-haired, giant-eyed source of pure love and art named Emily Jean Stone. For her middle name alone, she was destined to play one of America’s greatest sports heroes and icons of the equal-rights movement.