Emma Stone, who is currently 35 years old, expressed her pride in her birth name of Emily during a press conference at the Festival de Cannes for her new movie Kinds of Kindness. When a reporter from Kazakhstan addressed her as “Emily,” the movie’s director tried to correct the journalist, but Stone confirmed that her real name is indeed Emily and thanked the reporter for recognizing it. Stone had originally changed her name to Emma when she started acting because there was already an Emily Stone registered with SAG-AFTRA. She chose the name Emma as a tribute to Emma Bunton, her favorite member of the Spice Girls.
Stone revealed that she had wanted to be called Emma from a young age due to her admiration for Baby Spice, and in second grade, she asked her teacher to call her Emma. Throughout her career, she has gone by Emma, but she recently expressed a desire to go back to her roots and be known as Emily. She shared that her colleagues and people she works with often call her Emily, and her co-star Nathan Fielder jokingly mentioned that he switches between calling her Emma, Emily, or Em. Stone stated that she would not correct a fan if they referred to her as Emily when asking for a selfie or autograph, as she finds it nice to be called by her birth name.
Stone had collaborated with director Yorgos Lanthimos on Kinds of Kindness after previously working together on the film Poor Things in 2023. She explained that her real name is Emily and that she changed it to Emma when she entered the acting industry. Stone mentioned that she started to feel the urge to go back to her original name a couple of years ago. She expressed her appreciation for being called Emily by individuals she knows personally and mentioned that Nathan Fielder calls her Em, which she finds easier.
Despite going by Emma throughout her professional career, Stone admitted that she had originally wanted to be called Emma due to her admiration for Baby Spice. She expressed her desire to be known as Emily and shared that she would not correct a fan if they called her by her birth name during interactions. Stone’s decision to reclaim her birth name of Emily reflects her personal connection to her identity and serves as a reminder of her childhood inspiration for the name Emma. Her openness to being called Emily by those she knows and interacts with professionally shows her comfort with embracing her true self in different aspects of her life.
