Emma Stone – Poor Creatures: “Bella is the character who made me the happiest”
After winning the Golden Globe for Best Performance in a Comedy, Emma Stone declares all her love for her character.
On the occasion of his visit to the City of Lights, Emma Stone spoke about her latest incarnation, that of the strange Bella Baxter in Poor Creatures. The young woman is the fruit of long-term work carried out by Doctor Godwin Baxter (William Dafoe), a mutilated mad scientist since he also served as an experiment.
Since the Venice Film Festival, the actress’ performance has been making noise. After a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Awards as best actress for this role, Emma Stone had to look at the experience Lanthimos, which she reiterates for the third time. The actress took part in the exercise by answering questions from journalists about this recent experiment. Here is a best-of of his remarks during the film’s Parisian press conference.
Poor Creatures: Emma Stone’s Greatest Role (review)
“This is actually the third time we’ve worked together, we made a short film in between (Bleat), she first recalled about the Greek filmmaker. I think what made the difference was that we knew each other more. He communicated this idea for a film to me just after shooting The Favorite. We had been talking about it for a while and became friends in the meantime.“
The Lanthimos effect
For the actress it was obvious to renew a collaboration with Yorgos Lanthimoswith whom she claims artistic compatibility in methodology:
“We get along very well, we understand each other, we don’t need to talk. He doesn’t like to intellectualize, which is great since I don’t either. He is very practical, in the physical aspect and in experimenting with new things, he is very open. I am very receptive to that.“
Finding Bella Baxter’s Beat
The actress then discussed the gestures and movements she had to adopt to bring Bella Baxter to life and vibrate as she begins her first moments as a baby. Little by little, she is exposed to the pleasures of life: sex, food and especially dancing.
“Yorgos and I worked on the movements of the different stages of his life. There was a lot of experimentation, she starts off as a baby, but at the same time she’s nothing like that. (…)
To get Bella moving we had to make invention games. It’s not based on a true story so I couldn’t do imitations. It was just attempts, make or break. We prepared a lot for the dance scene with Mark (Ruffalo). The choreographer of The Favorite, came and we began this funny exploration, namely: How can Bella dance? There is a form of freedom that springs forth. It’s a struggle, Duncan Wedderburn holds Bella back by grabbing her by the waist but at the same time he had to struggle to convey the influence that Bella has on him… It took a very long time to prepare, we took months, so we opened the champagne when it was finished.“
Costumes and sets in keeping with the Baxter revolution
Emma Stone tackled the almost dreamlike environment that Bella finds herself in throughout her travels. The young creature ventures into atypical, apocalyptic, snowy or even idyllic territories… It is in costumes sometimes resembling “bubble wrap“(according to her interpreter) that Bella Baxter signifies her evolution as a woman.
“Seeing the world through Bella’s eyes made things easier. I was seeing the world (the settings) from Bella’s point of view – there were so many details. It was so creative. All the actors experienced things like this, I think. What they have done is breathtaking. The artistic team was very talented. Yorgos is very attentive to details, too! A month before the shoot, we did fittings and Yorgos and I wanted to work on shapes and colors. When Bella travels, she dresses herself, her outfits becoming more and more mature. Its clothing is informative and says a lot about its development and location.“
As a conclusion, Emma Stone made a touching statement regarding his career. Bella Baxter seems to have branded the young woman for the better:
“Bella is the character that made me the happiest.“said the actress.
Poor Creatures was released on January 17, 2024 in theaters. Here is its trailer:
Have you spotted the faces of the stars hidden on the poster for Poor Creatures?
