Although it came out back in January, Emma Stone is currently still promoting a TV series called The Curse that she stars in with The Rehearsal’s Nathan Fielder. The Curse, which aired on Showtime, had 10 one-hour long episodes. Emma and Nathan recently sat down for an interview with The Hollywood Reporter to talk about the series, their mutual respect for each other’s work, and more. They even touch upon Nathan’s feelings on Emma’s second Oscar win and Emma’s first impressions of The Rehearsal. The entire interview is very charming, and the tone is set from the very beginning, when Nathan declares that he’s going to be calling Emma by her birth name, Emily, throughout it. Emma affirms this, saying that she’d love to widely be called by her real name again.
Interviewer: Nathan, what was it like watching Emma win the Oscar, having just worked so intimately with her?
FIELDER: Oh my God. I texted her. I was like, “I’m so proud.” I texted her before she won, too. I was like, “Even if you lose, you’ll always be an Oscar winner to me.”
Interviewer: Which would have been true, since this was her second Oscar.
FIELDER: Before we continue, I’d like to say something. Her name’s Emily, but she goes by Emma professionally. So when there’s people that don’t know her, I end up saying Emma. But I’m going to just say Emily from here on.
STONE: You can say Emma. You can say anything.
Interviewer: Does anyone in the industry call you Emily?
STONE: When I get to know them, people that I work with do. It’s just because my name was taken [by another actress in SAG]. 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.” Nathan calls me Em, which is easier.
FIELDER: That’s a way of bridging it.
Interviewer: If some fan came up to you and said, “Can I take a selfie, Emily?” would you be like, “It’s Emma.”
STONE: No. That would be so nice. I would like to be Emily.
FIELDER: I’ll switch it up. I’m going to go back and forth.
Interviewer: And you’re always Nathan?
STONE: Well, I call him Big Nate. Which is his preferred name.
I think one of the most basic decencies one person can give another one is to call them by the name they request to be called. If I ever saw Emily Stone on the street or at a San Diego Padres’ game, I would totally call out, “Hi, Emily!” and hope that it at least gave her a smile that someone read her interview and decided to give her that respect. You can read the rest of the interview here. They have great chemistry that really shines through on paper. I remember hearing about The Curse when it first dropped, but since it was right around the holidays, it fell off my radar. I’m definitely going to add it back on there now. While I’m at it, I probably need to watch The Rehearsal, too!
Emily, of course, joins a long line of celebrities who have changed their names because someone else already beat them to their real name in the SAG registry, although most of the more famous ones have changed their last names instead. Diane Keaton’s real name is “Diane Hall” (Keaton is her mom’s maiden name). Speaking of “Keaton,” Michael Keaton’s real last name is “Douglas,” but that was name was famously already taken by Kirk’s son/Catherine ZJ’s husband. Elizabeth Banks had to switch from her legal name of “Elizabeth Mitchell” because of the actress who played Juliet on Lost. David Bowie was born David Jones, but that conflicted with Davy Jones (The Monkees). Michael B. Jordan added his middle initial to not be confused with the basketball player/Space Jam star while Michael J. Fox’s real middle initial is “A” for “Andrew” but there was already another Michael Andrew Fox in SAG. I always think it’s kinda neat trivia to learn actors’ real names. If you’re interested, Elle has a great list of celebrities who changed them by choice.
Photos credit: Avalon.red