Few characters offer a score as dense and daring as Bella, the Victorian heroine of the new Yórgos Lánthimos. Few actresses would have dared to take on this unfiltered, even risky, role. But, after The Favourite, Emma Stone is ready for any challenge for the Greek filmmaker, who has become one of the leading figures of independent cinema. In Poor Creatures, a fable with a gothic aesthetic that won the Golden Lion at Venice, the American star and Louis Vuitton muse plays a woman resurrected by a mad scientist who, although she wakes up in an adult body, is at first only a stammering, candid, disarticulated being. But, for two hours, she discovers the world, its horrors and pleasures to conquer her intellectual and physical autonomy. It's an entire life that the Oscar-winning actress of La La Land goes through in a hurry with this transgressive and fully emancipated character, right down to her sexuality. A sort of Bride of Frankenstein revisited in the light of MeToo, which has already earned her a Golden Globe nomination (the film is competing in seven categories) and makes her one of the favorites for the Oscar.
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Madame Figaro. – Bella is a heroine on the margins, free, uninhibited. Is that what inspired you?
Emma Stone. "When she wakes up, she is like a child, a virgin of everything. She is not conditioned, she does not know what society expects of her, she does not know shame or prejudice. She asserts her right to make mistakes and builds herself with a fierce appetite for freedom that she places above all else: gender, conventions, the gaze of men... She's not a character who suffers, and when she's confronted with cynicism and misery, she doesn't look away. For her, the only way to change the world is to look it in the face and experience all its facets.
Do you try to do the same through your choices as an actress?
In a way. Since I'm lucky enough to be able to choose my roles, I try to play characters that reflect the complexity of women. Which is no less than that of men.
What do you learn from your characters?
So much. This is the advantage of this job which, beyond its intellectual part, allows you to live in a space other than your own. Bella, for example, has changed the way I look at the world and at me. We all make mistakes that build us, but we tend to forget this when we make sweeping judgments about others, or ourselves. Understanding that we are also the fruit of a family and social heritage allows us to evolve more serenely in this world.
Is Poor Creatures a feminist film?
I can't think of anything more feminist than a story about a woman's empowerment! Bella does not choose to be reborn, but what she chooses to become is hers alone. In the end, that's what we all aspire to. It is a symbol of what we would gain by embracing our curiosity and ignoring judgments. Unfortunately, although it is 2024, there is still debate about what women should have the right to be and what they should not be. It is never useless to remind people that they must be treated as equals with men and that they must have the right to dispose of their bodies.
I can't think of anything more feminist than a story about a woman's empowerment!
Emma Stone
You have become one of Yórgos Lánthimos' muses. What are you bound by?
Today through friendship, but above all through a common sensitivity. Although he seems less outgoing than I am, Yórgos also cherishes his freedom and only likes to work in a benevolent context, with a certain lightness. We both do our job seriously, but we don't take ourselves too seriously.
Did it take that confidence to accept the nude and sex scenes?
It was necessary. However, if being naked on a set is a source of vulnerability, crying or playing the piano with your feet as Bella does makes you just as nervous. Sex is only one piece of the puzzle: if she indulges in the pleasures of the flesh, Bella has just as much curiosity for food, philosophy, travel, dancing... It is this integral experience that allows him to form his own opinion about the world.
You worked with an intimacy coordinator on set. In France, they struggle to find their place...
I was against the idea myself, but I was wrong. The trust I placed in Yorgos seemed to me to be enough, but for him, it was non-negotiable. Elle McAlpine has created a very safe environment for all the actors and, like a dancer, has devised choreographies that, on screen, allow intimate scenes to be more realistic. She was an artistic collaborator like any other.
Although he seems less outgoing than me, Yórgos (Lánthimos) also cherishes his freedom and only likes to work in a benevolent context, with a certain lightness
Emma Stone
In puritanical Hollywood, few actresses have your audacity. Is it hard to move the sliders?
What Yórgos offers is rare, even in the representation of intimacy, but I didn't perceive it as an obstacle. It's an aspect of the character like any other. Sexuality and the discovery of the body are part of the human experience, which we try to fully account for here. Why should we look away when Bella embraces her body? Not showing this facet would be the result of a social construction to which the character is a stranger. It wouldn't make sense and would fuel this belief that women should be ashamed of their desire.
You produce the film. What are you looking for in the projects you support?
In France, authors are really respected, they have the last word, and I doubt that many directors receive production notes that stifle them. But in the United States, many filmmakers are struggling for their artistic independence and are seeing their projects slip away from them. I wanted to help them carry their vision to the end by playing the intermediary, the facilitator, or even the bad guy. But, for the love of art, I take on the role of villain!
Poor Creatures, by Yórgos Lánthimos, with Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe... Released on January 17th.