Emma Stone
On coming to Mill Valley
“I can’t wait. My stylist and my makeup artist are both from the area, and they are planning a bunch of side trips for us. I love Northern California anyway. I come there a lot, not for a movie role but just as a regular person.”
On previous experience performing in musicals
“I took singing and dancing lessons when I was a kid, and I was in a lot of musicals at a youth theater in Phoenix. We did ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,’ ‘Honk!’ and a very big production of ‘Titanic.’ All of that experience was reinvigorated in the one year I did ‘Cabaret’ on Broadway and made ‘La La Land.’ ”
On how performing onstage helped her get over panic attacks so severe she would think the house was burning down
“I went into therapy, but it was really local theater that got me over them. Improvisation and acting were almost like meditation, an experiment in learning to stay in the present and focused on what was in front of me instead of worrying that the world was ending. Performing gave me an outlet for my creative energy. I haven’t had a panic attack in a few years — knock wood. I never say they go away completely. But I now know how to handle them.”
On her feelings about accepting a role in which she would sing and dance onscreen for the first time
“Of course it was challenging and scary. That is the great part about my job. I get to do things that are scary. It was very important that Ryan and I were able to commit to two or three months of rehearsal. I had confidence because I knew we were going to be working with great people helping us to sing and dance and for Ryan play the piano too.”
On working with “Whiplash” director Damien Chazelle
“There was one thing he said that helped me stop worrying about whether audiences would buy us singing and dancing. Damien said he wanted us to be real grounded people who when they are together sing and dance in this magical world. We did not need to be Broadway-caliber singers and dancers. We just needed to be very alive. Damien was so open to collaboration. Ryan and I would improvise and he would write things down. We were all trying to find the truth of these characters.”
On working with Ryan Gosling for the third time
“It helps because we kind of know how each other work. There is a high level of trust that would be hard with someone I just met. On our very first audition together (for ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’) there was an instant sense that we could improvise. We found a connection between us that fasttracked the whole thing.”
On the sexual innocence of “La La Land”
“That’s what I really like about the film. I think you could bring a 5-year-old to watch it. It has the same kind of innocence as ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ and ‘Top Hat.’ There is something very romantic about keeping it in the kind of world that would appeal to all ages.”