Emma Stone described filming Poor Things as a “daily joy to get to live in that place of exploration” as her character embodies curiosity and adventure.
The Academy Award winner, 35, plays Bella Baxter in the Yorgos Lanthimos-directed fantasy film about a young woman brought back to life by an unorthodox scientist played by Willem Dafoe. The film also stars Mark Ruffalo and Ramy Youssef.
Stone, who has been nominated for best female actor in a musical or comedy at the Golden Globe Awards, appeared at the UK gala screening of Poor Things at the Barbican Centre in London alongside her co-stars.
“I love everything about Bella,” she told the PA news agency. “Character wise, she is without shame and she’s without self-judgment and she’s so curious and so adventurous and just fascinated by every aspect that life has to offer.
“So that was just a daily joy to get to live in that place of exploration.
“She says at one point that she’s a flawed, experimenting person and I think that’s really inspiring because I think we kind of all are, she just really owns that element of herself.”
The Avengers star Ruffalo, who plays Duncan Wedderburn in the film, described it as a “very freeing” experience.
“It was really freeing and it’s a really kind of radical film in a lot of ways, these days for some reason the world feels kind of weirdly oppressive right now and this film feels like it’s punching out at that,” he said.
“To take the ship as close to the reef without just wrecking it was kind of what I was after, we almost wrecked it a few times.
“You want to be daring and you want to keep expanding and growing and you want to keep alive and you want to keep people guessing and you want to push against people’s expectations against you and even expectations you have for yourself – so at 56 I’m like ‘OK man I’ve still got some moves’.”
US actor Youssef plays Max McCandles, a poverty-stricken but bright doctor.
“I think it’s all about following curiosity, no matter what, and the Bella character is curiosity as a human being,” the 32-year-old said.
“It was just really a beautiful way to tell that story of what it looks like when it’s uncaged and allowed to run free.
“I think Max is there to love her unconditionally and he’s kind of the man who learns how to let go.”
