Who is your favorite actress?

Once again I find myself in debate mode.  There are so many talented actresses in the world that it is hard to choose an actual favorite.  I find myself in the same dilemma as I did with choosing a favorite actor.  In many ways I found myself going through phases with who my favorite actress was once upon a time too.  In high school I watched a lot of films the start Gwyneth Paltrow, Nicole Kidman, and Renee Zellweger.  Over the years I have continued to watch their films and added Kate Winslet to a list of stars whose films I have always enjoyed.  However, for almost a whole decade now I have enjoyed the films of an actress who is slightly younger than me.  An actress who has fought zombies, managed to get through high school rumors, and has amazing on-screen chemistry with Ryan Gosling.

Day 20: Your favorite actress – Emma Stone

The first time I remember taking notice of her was in a film that oddly enough included the man I listed as my favorite actor.  In Ghosts of Girlfriends Past Stone managed to make me take notice of her.  While I had not seen her in previously, I knew I was watching a talented actress.  An actress that made me laugh.  If you have not seen that film there at times she steals the show as she pops up in various scenes throughout the film.  I feel the same way with her character in The House Bunny.  While there were other focus in the movie, Stone always finds a way to bring herself to the forefront of the film and stand out even among other talented people within the feature.

This was especially true to me when watching Zombieland.  I remember originally going to theaters because my dad is a big Woody Harrelson fan, as am I, but leaving the theater enjoying everyone from the feature.  The way the cast interacted together and became a makeshift family by the end of the film was nothing short of spectacular.  Throughout the film I could understand the decisions that Wichita made to take care of Little Rock.  I understood what she was teaching her, but I was happy to see the character develop into one that knew she could ultimately trust Tallahassee and Columbus.  The plethora of emotions displayed and the way everything came together by the end makes me extremely happy to know that ten years from the original feature coming out a sequel is finally in pre-production to grace the silver screen in 2019.

And if Wichita was not enough to make you appreciate Stone’s talents, Olive and a retelling of an old story I enjoyed, but wish there was a little less description in the book.  The Scarlet Letter transformed into the Easy A.  This is one of those films that a woman born in 1984 watches and can relate to something fierce.  If you still don’t want someone to be standing outside a church with you, holding up a boombox outside your window, to ride off on a lawnmower, or randomly thrust your hand in the air in triumphant with some random musical number thrown in you have been denied the awesomeness that is an eighties film.  Does Oliver make awful decisions?  A little bit, but no worse than any of us have made in our lifetime.  Sometimes we tell lies because we think it makes us sound a little cooler only to later realize that we should have just been us because that is always good enough.  And I think that’s one of the best messages that anyone can take from the film other than your life really is no one else’s business.

The films I adore her in did not stop there though.  I found myself completely in love with Crazy, Stupid, Love and often wonder about what happened to the characters afterward.  Maybe I love Hannah so much because I think we have all been there.  We have all been in a situation where we know we have to step away and by doing so we are lead down a better path.  I can’t say it would hurt my feelings if like gave me a Jacob and he had some eye opening experience with me.  Through her own acceptance she deserved better I feel in many ways that is why Jacob came to the same realization.  This is not the only role where Stone has played a major influence in others lives to get them to know they deserve more.

The Help takes us on a journey we cannot believe ever had to take place in the first place.  The fact the world operated the way it did once upon still blows my mind.  What boggles my mind more is having it confirmed that scenes such as ones in the movie were common place to witness.  I think sometimes we need people in our lives to lead us down a path to know it’s okay to stand up for ourselves.  We need that support system.  The knowledge that someone else is there fighting the good fight.  Skeeter managed to do that for a group of woman.  And while this instantaneously fix everything, allies were created to fight the good fight.  That’s a message that should never be loss on anyone.  Allies are an important part of the journey to ensuring a good life for everyone and keeping narrow minded attitudes out of the spotlight.

Other films I have found myself enjoying over the years include The Croods, Magic in the Moonlight, and Birdman.  None of them touched me the way that La La Land managed to touch me though.  There is something to be said about taking old school musicals and making them new again.  Granted, musicals seem to be floating around here and there and have an odd staying power in Hollywood these days.  They might not break opening day weekend records, but they are always here to stay.  And La La Land moved me in a way I was not expecting.  I was taken back to my childhood and various musicals I watched over and over again. I was reminded that even if life does not turn out how you want that does not mean life is all that bad.  La La Land manages to make one both happy and sad all at once, but leave with an uplifting feeling that everything works out the way it is supposed to.

Given these points, Emma Stone has an incredible career ahead of her.  More Oscar nominations and hopefully more Oscar wins.  More films to make us not only laugh but leave us thinking at the end of the day.  And when we are not watching her on the big screen, we will take interest of her on the small screen in various interviews.  We will never tire of her lip sync performance on Jimmy Fallon and think of her every time we hear DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win,” and wish we had Ludacris’s rap down half as good as she managed.