Emma Stone recently addressed the ongoing confusion about her name in a candid interview. During her appearance on TODAY on June 20, Craig Melvin asked the actress if she prefers to be called by her stage name, Emma, or her real name, Emily. Stone responded with a relaxed attitude, saying, “I’m fine either way. My real name is Emily, though.”
The Oscar-winning actress explained that she adopted the name Emma for professional reasons. “Emily Stone was already taken at the Screen Actors Guild. It’s like registering a business; you can’t have the same name as someone else,” she said. Despite this, she reassured fans, “I’ve been saying Emily my whole life. You can call me whatever you want. You can make up a name,” she added with a laugh.
This clarification comes after a reporter mistakenly called her Emily during a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival in May, where she was promoting her new movie, “Kinds of Kindness.” The film’s director, Yorgos Lanthimos, and other actors on the panel echoed the name, prompting Stone to smile and say, “My name’s Emily, thank you,” with a laugh.
In an April interview with The Hollywood Reporter to promote “The Curse,” Stone revealed that her close friends and co-stars usually call her Emily. Her co-star Nathan Fielder even mentioned that he planned to use her real name during their chat. “Before we continue, I’d like to say something. Her name’s Emily, but she goes by Emma professionally,” he explained. Stone responded, “You can say Emma. You can say anything.”
Stone further elaborated on why she uses a stage name. “When I get to know them, people that I work with do. It’s just because my name was taken by another actor in the Screen Actors Guild,” she said. However, she admitted that she recently felt a strong urge to embrace her birth name. “Then 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 added that her co-star Nathan Fielder calls her “Em,” which she finds easier. Stone also mentioned that she wouldn’t correct a fan if they called her Emily. “That would be so nice. I would like to be Emily,” she said.
Stone’s stage name has an interesting backstory. During a 2018 appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” she revealed that her love for the Spice Girls, particularly Emma Bunton (Baby Spice), inspired her to choose the name Emma. “Growing up, I was super blonde, and my real name is Emily, but I wanted to be called Emma because of Baby Spice, and guess what, now I am,” she said, laughing.
She clarified that being a Spice Girls fan wasn’t the only reason for her stage name. “It wasn’t necessarily because of her,” she added. “But yes, in second grade, did I go up to the teacher on the first day and ask her to call me Emma? Yes, I did. And was it because of Emma Lee Bunton from the Spice Girls? Yes, it was.”
Stone has remained a devoted fan of the British girl group over the years, attending multiple concerts. “I saw them in concert in the ‘90s. I saw them at O2 Arena in 2008, and they recently announced a new tour, and I will be going to that somehow,” she shared, referring to the 2019 reunion tour.
In a light-hearted moment on “The Tonight Show,” Stone and Fallon took a Buzzfeed quiz to determine which Spice Girl they were. Stone was surprised to find out she was “Posh Spice,” exclaiming and throwing her hands in the air when the results popped up.
Emma Stone’s name confusion has been a topic of interest for years, but her recent interviews have shed light on her relaxed attitude towards it. Whether fans call her Emma or Emily, the actress seems comfortable with both names, embracing her professional identity while also cherishing her real name.
