Caffeinated Clint
In ”Easy A”, up-and-coming actress Emma Stone (”Superbad”, ”Zombieland”) plays a popularity-beseeching High Schooler who, thanks to some little white lies regarding her non-existent sex-life, goes from squeaky clean Daddy’s Girl to super-hot tramp about town. The actress tells Clint Morris this was a movie she jumped at the chance to be in – and she’s not lying. So she says, anyway.
As disappointed as a lot of us were when your series ”Drive” was canceled, we’re now somewhat thankful – had the show continued, we might never have gotten to see this amazing comedienne! There’s something very Goldie Hawn or Gilda Radner about your performance in ”Easy A”.
Oh… wow… that’s unbelievable…wow…. Thank you!
Some might say that the film is somewhat of an update of ”The Scarlett Letter”, did Will Gluck pitch it to you as such?
I think the way we all looked at it is, you know how when you’re a teenager and you read something or you watch something and you find a way to apply it to your life? No matter what it is, you find a way to relate it to…whatever you’re doing at the time. I think more so than an update of The Scarlett Letter, [my character] Olive simply applies the themes of that particular book, since she’s currently reading it in English class, to her life.
This is the story of a High Schooler who wants to be popular. Can I ask what your High School experience was like?
I was home-schooled so I was most popular and most invisible!
You were home-schooled? Is that because you were acting at the time?
Well… I was attempting to. I didn’t work like I do now. I didn’t end up getting my first major job until I was 18, which would’ve been my senior year of High School.
And were your parents as cool as Olive’s folks – played by Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson – in the film are?
Remarkably, they really are! They’re very open with communication, they’re very supportive and they really understand who I am. So I can definitely relate to that aspect of the story.
And though your onscreen parents may seem unorthodox, they really do care about the wellbeing of their daughter
Oh yes, they most certainly do – you don’t see parents like that everyday
And how fun was it to see these ‘’serious’’ actors, Tucci and Clarkson, let off the leash!?
Oh yeah! They’ve known each other for a long time so they had really good chemistry. To be able to work off of each other like that was so cool to see. It’s actually inspired me to work with people I’ve worked with before.
In terms of the film, what attracted you to it in the first place?
First of all, characters like Olive don’t come around every day. Also, the movie itself was so funny – I loved how cleverly it was written. I think it also covered some pretty serious topics without really pandering to the audience: it has a lot of things to say about the speed and advancements in technology and how quick a rumour can get around and sometimes get twisted and turned along the way; extremism – with the ‘Cross Your Heart’ club being so extreme; and of course Olive taking her rumour to the extreme to benefit her reputation. So it covers so many things while also being very, very funny.
It’s a comedy at its heart, but there’s some dramatic stuff in here – is it easy to throw the funny hat off and put the serious hat on when it’s called for?
No, not really, because it made sense to the story; I think that storyline was laid out pretty well – it didn’t feel unnatural or weird at all.
Like your previous film ”Superbad”, ”Easy A” is somewhat of a love letter to the ‘80s. Had you seen all the films, like ”Say Anything” and ”Can’t Buy Me Love”, that this film references?
Oh yeah! Multiple times! It was so nice to be able to reference all those movies. So many times movies try and pretend they’re set in ‘Movie Land’ whereas in this we recognize the fact that these movies have existed… they lived them, just as we did.
And I love the inclusion of the Simple Minds track ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’ at the end of the film! Did they play around with any other songs before deciding on that one?
Such a tribute, yeah. The original script featured the song Laid by James – also a classic – but they ultimately decided to go with Don’t You Forget About Me which is the ultimate classic.
What makes a good teen movie in your opinion?
I think what John Hughes did – he looked at teenagers from an empathetic viewpoint; he didn’t undermine their problems.
“Easy A” opens Thursday
