Emma Stone Says It Would Be 'So Nice' to Be Called By Her Real Name

Emma Stone is embracing her birth name. The actress opens up about why she changed her name professionally in a new interview, saying she "freaked out" recently over the swap. 

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter about her role in Showtime's The Curse, Stone addresses her name preference in response to a comment by co-star Nathan Fielder. 

"Her name's Emily, but she goes by Emma professionally," he tells THR. "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, whose birth name is Emily Jean Stone, replies, "You can say Emma. You can say anything." 

She further elaborates on her preferences, responding to a question about whether "anyone in the industry" calls her Emily. 

"When I get to know them, people that I work with do," she shares. "It's just because my name was taken [by another actress in the Screen Actors Guild]. Then I freaked out a couple years ago. For some reason, I was like, 'I can't do it anymore. Just call me Emily.'" 

She notes that Fielder calls her "Em," making things "easier." 

Further pressed on how she would respond if a fan approached her in the street as Emily, Stone happily clarifies, "That would be so nice. I would like to be Emily." 

During a 2018 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Stone revealed that she began occasionally going by Emma instead of her given name in honor of her favorite Spice Girl, Emma Bunton.

"I was super blonde, and my real name is Emily, but I wanted to be called Emma because of Baby Spice and guess what, now I am,” Stone joked. "So, that’s pretty messed up.”

She admitted, "It wasn’t necessarily because of her, but yes, in second grade, did I go up to the teacher and ask her to call me Emma, yes I did. And was it because of Emma Lee Bunton from the Spice Girls? Yes it was."

Just last week, fans noticed that the Poor Things actress was referenced as Emily Jean Stone in the liner notes for pal Taylor Swift's 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department. Stone is credited as providing "Oddities" on track eight, "Florida!!!" (featuring Florence + the Machine). Neither Swift nor Stone have clarified what said "Oddities" entailed, but fans have been quick to speculate that Stone may have been present during the recording session. 

As Stone accepted her second Academy Award last month, the Best Actress winner ran through a list of people she wanted to thank, including Poor Things director Yorgos Lanthimos, husband Dave McCary and the entire cast and crew of the movie. Before exiting, however, Stone took a beat to shout out her daughter, Louise Jean, using a Swift lyric to express her love. 

"And, most importantly, my daughter, who's gonna be three in three days and has turned our lives technicolor," Stone said, fighting back tears after already putting her shock on full display over her surprise win. "I love you bigger than the whole sky, my girl."

It's no surprise that the actress -- who won her first Oscar in 2017 for La La Land -- would use Swift's words as the pair have been friends for two decades and have consistently shown up for each other over the years. In August, Stone was spotted at the Eras Tour in Los Angeles with friendship bracelets to boot.

It was around that time that Swift dropped her "From the Vault" track, "When Emma Falls in Love," on her re-recorded version of Speak Now. Fans were quick to wonder if the tune was inspired by Stone and her ex, Andrew Garfield, but the star played coy when asked about it by ET. 

"Oh," Stone responded, but wouldn't budge, even after she was asked if it's true and if she's flattered that the Midnights songstress wrote a track about her.

"You would have to ask her," she responded.

Later, Swift was seen standing up in the audience and cheering when Stone won at the 2024 Golden Globes, prompting a hilarious series of events in which the actress wound up in a bit of hot water.

"What an a**hole," Stone quipped from the winners' lounge about Swift's support. "I've known her for almost 20 years, so I was very happy she was there and she was also nominated tonight which was wonderful. So yes, what an a**hole."

In February, Stone said that after seeing the reaction to her joke, she made the executive decision to not make any more jestful comments about Swift after her own words were flipped upside down and used against her.

"I definitely won’t make a joke like that again," she told Variety, "because I saw headlines that really pulled it out of context." Pointing to herself, Stone added, "What a dope."

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