GAME, SWEAT, MATCH
Stone works hard on and off court to capture Billie Jean King’s spirit
Learning how to LOS ANGELES dance for La La Land helped Emma Stone earn an Oscar. Figuring out tennis moves in Battle of the Sexes was another test of her will over skill.
The latest extra effort came with Stone’s portrayal of tennis star Billie Jean King in a movie which mostly focuses on the build up to King’s famous televised 1973 Houston Astrodome match against retired Wimbledon winner Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell).
Through no fault of her own, Stone admits that her racket skills were limited. In fact, the 28-yearold’s relieved the court action is not the driving force in the film.
“So much of the story is about her personal journey,” says Stone of the role.
“If it was the Billie Jean tennis movie, I would have never got the part.”
Directed by the Little Miss Sunshine team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, Battle of the Sexes is a narrative in two parts. There’s Stone as the married King, who is struggling with her cloaked sexuality while standing up to the then-U.S. tennis boss Jack Kramer (Bill Pullman) by forming the renegade Women’s Tennis Association.
Meanwhile, the 55-year-old Riggs, an inveterate gambler and shameless showboat, hatches a money-making, man-versus-woman gimmick to pick up some cash and get back into the limelight he so desperately misses. King initially rejects the exhibition offer but accepts after Riggs whips No. 1 ranked female tennis player Margaret Court (Jessica McNamee).
Co-starring is Sarah Silverman, who plays King’s no-nonsense manager. Elizabeth Shue plays Riggs’s frustrated wife. Andrea Riseborough portrays King ’s closeted girlfriend and Alan Cumming has a support part as a designer.
Written by Simon Beaufoy (originally for his Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle), the film counts as a nostalgic exploration of the chauvinistic way things were — from the revelation that male tennis players competed for cash prizes eight times the women’s take to the Virginia Slims’ slogan, “You’ve come a long way, baby” linked to the Women’s Tennis Association.
And while Stone was spared the agony of trying to mimic the athletic King on court, the actress did immerse herself in a gruelling four-month program with a coach and trainer to gain muscle mass and learn tennis moves before the shoot began. Even King assisted her with some choreographed strategies.
“I have never played tennis, but I had an incredible tennis double in Kaitlyn Christian and she was phenomenal,” Stone says. “And they can do a lot now (with special effects). There is a lot of magic out there. I mean, look at the superhero movies. So we kind of figured out the choreography as we were going.”
More critically, King, the former tennis star and social activist, was always available to offer insights into the buildup to the mega-media event.
“I had never played a real person before, much less someone like Billie Jean, so I wasn’t sure what my process would be,” Stone says.
“When I met her, she was so wonderful and welcoming to me and she made it clear early that whatever I needed she would do to bring this whole thing to fruition.”
Scottsdale, Ariz.-born Stone has always been single-minded. It was the teen Stone who convinced her mom, Krista, to move to Los Angeles so she could audition for parts. But things didn’t go as planned.
A few years of disappointments ended when she booked the gig of Laurie Partridge in the TV movie, The New Partridge Family.
Then she managed memorable co-starring parts opposite Jonah Hill and Michael Cera in 2007’s raunchy Superbad, which led to The House Bunny and Zombieland, and her showcase in the 2010 teen comedy Easy A.
Before her high-profile performances as Gwen Stacy in the Amazing Spider-Man films, there was her relationship comedy, Crazy, Stupid, Love. with La La Land collaborator Ryan Gosling and a featured part in the acclaimed The Help.
But her Billie Jean portrayal in Battle of the Sexes is the first role to show her that physical strength and mental determination go hand in hand.
“I’ve never been athletic before and the beginning of the process was pretty brutal, but then I got to a place where I became strong enough to execute whatever it is I wanted to execute,” she says.
“And that was an amazing place to get to, especially when I started putting those pieces together.”