2-time best actress winner Emma Stone hails ‘Poor Things’ as ‘greatest acting experience’ of career

“Poor Things” star Emma Stone embodied the viral turn of phrase, “The woman was too stunned to speak,” after Michelle Yeoh read her name as the best actress winner at the 96th Academy Awards on Sunday night.

After hugging husband Dave McCary, co-star Mark Ruffalo, and director Yorgos Lanthimos, Stone walked onto the stage in a haze of shock, mouthing to the five past winners presenting, “My dress is broken,” which she later revealed to “Good Morning America” was a result of her dancing all out to Ryan Gosling’s “Barbie” musical number.

Ryan Gosling performs with Emma Stone during the nominated song ‘I’m Just Ken’ from the movie ”Barbie” during the 96th annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, CA, Mar. 10, 2024.

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“I really partied hard to ‘I’m Just Ken,'” she told “GMA” backstage later, after notching her second career win in the category (she previously took home the award for best actress for her leading performance in “La La Land” in 2017). “I was really excited for Ryan. He just absolutely crushed it and it was a blast. So, it was worth the dress rip.”

Emma Stone accepts Best Actress for ‘La La Land’ onstage during the 89th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, CA, Feb. 26, 2017.

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During her acceptance speech Sunday night, Stone called her victory “really overwhelming,” saying she was “so deeply honored to share this with every single person who poured their love and their care and their brilliance into the making of this film.”

Emma Stone talks to GMA backstage at the Oscars, Hollywood, CA, Mar. 10, 2024.

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Moments later, when she made it backstage with “GMA,” she added, “I’m definitely pretty spinny — I’m not sure that I remember what I did or said.”

Stone is only the second woman to be nominated for acting and best picture for the same film, having worked as a producer on “Poor Things” in addition to her starring role.

She reserved her final shoutout onstage Sunday night for her daughter Louise Jean McCary, who turns 3 on Wednesday.

“Most importantly, my daughter, who’s going to be three in three days and has turned our lives technicolor: I love you bigger than the whole sky, my girl,” she said tearfully to wrap up her speech.

Emma Stone, winner of the Best Actress in a Leading Role award for “Poor Things” poses in the press room during the 96th Annual Academy Awards, Mar. 10, 2024, in Hollywood.

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Speaking with “GMA” later, Stone recounted the early days of “Poor Things” and its initial development and filming, which she said coincided with her daughter’s birth in March 2021.

“I started talking to Yorgos about this movie in 2017 and I had her in 2021 when we were about to make the movie,” Stone said. “So, it was kind of a crazy confluence of events. But she was only 5 months old when we went to start shooting it, so it was incredible to get to be there with her.”

As for her Oscar-winning performance as Bella Baxter, a young woman in Victorian London who is brought back to life thanks to a brain transplant, who embarks on an odyssey of self-discovery, Stone said she has missed the character “since the day we wrapped filming.”

“Getting to play her was really the greatest acting experience I have ever had,” she said. “So I’ve already been missing her for a long time, but this is a very beautiful honor for Bella. I’m really so grateful for it.”

In her speech, Stone praised the teamwork on the project, further emphasizing to “GMA” that “everyone is is an equal part in making it what it is.”

In this handout photo provided by A.M.P.A.S., Michelle Yeoh, Emma Stone, Sally Field and Jennifer Lawrence backstage during the 96th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, CA, Mar. 10, 2024.

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Sharing the moment with her close friend, Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence, and the other four former winners — including Sally Field — who presented her the award “was incredible,” Stone said.

“I wish that they did that every year, it was so beautiful. And Sally Field I’ve gotten to work with three times. We have the same birthday,” Stone revealed. “I just love her and what she was saying — all of those women I admire so much and look up to so much, so it was it was really [special].”