Emma Stone Recalls The ‘Garbage Advice’ She Received From A Male Studio Executive Early In Her Career

It’s a good thing that Emma Stone didn’t listen to the advice a male studio executive gave her early in her career. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have given the best performance of her career in 2023.

On Thursday, Stone received the 2024 Palm Springs International Film Awards’ Desert Palm Achievement Award for Poor Things. “When I first moved to L.A.,” People reports she said during her acceptance speech, “I went to one of those general meetings that they sometimes send you to, and an executive told me that for male actors, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. And in his eyes, for women, it was a sprint, not a marathon. And that was 20 years ago.”

Stone continued, “I realize that advice is total garbage because the majority of the women that I look up to in this industry, many of whom are in this room, have proven that as time goes on, life and work only get more interesting and more fulfilling.”

Outside of Poor Things, the Taylor Swift fan has also excelled in recent years in her first film with director Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite; Cruella, which is better than it has any right to be; and the triumphantly awkward The Curse.

Stone is up for two Golden Globes this weekend: Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for Poor Things and Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama for The Curse. Could an Oscar be next (It should.)