Darling in Diamonds, Emma Stone Shines at Palm Springs Film Awards
Bedecked in glittering Bulgari jewels, Emma Stone dazzled photographers as she swept across the red carpet at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala. The actress lent Old Hollywood glamour to the event in a striking black silk gown by Givenchy, cinched at the waist to accentuate her enviable figure. Ever the fashion plate, she completed the look with a pair of vertiginous Christian Louboutin heels and an exquisite diamond choker necklace that drew the eye to her elegant neck.
Though the spotlight tends to follow Emma Stone wherever she goes, she took a moment during the ceremony to thoughtfully reflect on the peaks and pitfalls of building an acting career in Hollywood – particularly for women. Accepting the Desert Palm Achievement Award for Best Actress for her knockout performance in Poor Things, Stone offered the well-heeled crowd a glimpse into the early days of her career with a wry anecdote about the “total garbage” advice she once received from a Hollywood executive.
According to Stone, when she first arrived in Los Angeles 20 years ago, bright-eyed and bursting with talent, she attended a general meeting with an industry insider. This unnamed executive casually told the young actress that while acting was a marathon for men – with opportunities unfolding slowly over the course of their careers – for women, it was a sprint fueled by youth and beauty. Even two decades later, Stone could not hide her disbelief at being given such a blithe prognosis. For her, a consummate craftswoman devoted to her work, the notion that she would be sidelined in just a few short years was utterly foreign.
Fortunately, Stone chose to discard the executive’s counsel, instead following her passion and allowing her versatility and magnetism as a performer to blossom. As she noted with her signature self-assurance on Thursday evening, “the majority of women I look up to in this industry have proven that as time goes on, life and work only get more interesting and fulfilling.” To rising talents, hers is an unimpeachable example of weathering transient setbacks to achieve enduring success on one’s own terms. Stone capped her speech on a high note, proclaiming her eagerness to continue taking artistic risks and pushing creative boundaries.
Indeed, the coming months promise to be banner ones for Stone. Already sparking Oscar buzz for Poor Things, she will next captivate audiences in Damien Chazelle’s epic Hollywood tale Babylon alongside Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie. If her legacy thus far is any indication, Stone’s marathon toward acting greatness shows no signs of slowing to a sprint.
