Emma Stone is a household name for many, but it is not the Oscar-winning actor’s birth name — and she wants people to know it.
The Academy Award winner recently revealed she would like to go by her birth name, Emily, over her stage name, Emma, and was seen beaming when a reporter addressed her as such on Saturday.
During a press conference at Cannes Film Festival 2024, where the actress was promoting her upcoming film Kinds of Kindness, a journalist called out, “Emily”.
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Delighted, Stone turned to the film’s director, Yorgos Lanthimos, excitedly telling him, “that’s my name”, as per People.
Stone, 35, originally chose the moniker Emma Stone as there was another actor in the US actors’ union SAG-AFTRA named Emily Stone.
The union’s policies state “no member uses a professional name which is the same as, or resembles so closely as to tend to be confused with, the name of any other member”.
So, Stone was forced to “come up with a different one”.
“For a 16-year-old, picking a new name is an interesting prospect,” she told W Magazine in 2017.
The Poor Things star had a brief stint as Riley Stone, appearing on Malcolm in the Middle and other acting credits, but said she soon settled on Emma as it was closer to Emily.
“One day they were calling, ‘Riley! Riley! Riley! We need you on set, Riley!’ and I had no idea who they were talking to,” she told the publication.
“At that moment, I realised that I just couldn’t be Riley, so I became Emma.”
The actor had the option of Emily J. Stone but did not think it was the right fit.
“I don’t think I can pull off the ‘J’,” she joked.
“But I miss Emily. I would love to get her back.”
Colleagues and friends call her Emily and she would love to reclaim her name publicly, she told The Hollywood Reporter in April.
“I freaked out a couple of years ago. For some reason, I was like, ‘I can’t do it anymore. Just call me Emily’,” she said.
While Stone said she now does not mind being called Emma or Emily, she prefers her birth name and would be delighted if a fan used it.
“That would be so nice,” she said.
“I would like to be Emily.”