The Academy Award-winning actress serves up one of her best shots in Battle of the Sexes.
The Academy Award-winning actress serves up one of her best shots in Battle of the Sexes.
Emma Stone had a brilliant 2017. She kicked off with La La Land, then followed that up by scooping up a little gold statue to decorate her house with at the Oscars (for Best Actress, no less). How do you top that?
Well, if you’re Emma, you throw yourself into work. She already has two movies set for release in 2018 – a period drama about Queen Anne called The Favourite and Cruella, where she plays the titular Cruella de Vil of 101 Dalmatians. It’s the most perfectly cast role since Emma Watson’s Belle. (Obviously not for the meanness, but for the comedic brilliance our imaginary BFF will no doubt bring to the character.)
She’s also set to star in a Netflix series called Maniacalongside Superbad buddy Jonah Hill. The show is about patients in a mental hospital who live inside their own fantasies.
But first, she’s taking a trip back to the ’70s in what Amy Schumer has already deemed her “favourite movie of the year” – Battle of the Sexes.
What got you interested in the story and the role?
“I didn’t know about the [actual] Battle of the Sexes until I heard about it through [the directors] Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, because I didn’t grow up playing sports. So it was not really in my consciousness until then. But then I read the script and I wanted to learn as much as I possibly could about Billie Jean King in that era, because she was going through so much and there was a lot that the public didn’t know about her. I found the story fascinating.”
What did you think of Billie Jean King, her journey and motivation?
“She became a hero and an icon and a huge inspiration to women in the ’70s, even though she was only in her 20s at the time. She had always been driven by social activism, and saw that tennis was an elitist sport. From age 12, when she’d been playing at a tennis club, she had seen that only rich, white people got to play tennis. She recalls that her own parents didn’t have enough money to buy her a tennis skirt she was supposed to have for a photo shoot (she was wearing shorts her mum had made), and at the club they said: ‘you can’t be in the photo.’ But beyond the sport itself, she realised that girls were being raised one way and boys were raised another way. It was looked down upon for a woman to be an athlete. For Billie Jean, tennis was the vehicle to effect social change. Because she was so great at tennis, it gave her a voice.”
"This is probably the most physical role that I’ve done in certain ways and the preparation was a major aspect of my work.”
Images TPG/Click Photos Text Claire Starkey Interview 20th Century Fox.
What was it like working with Steve Carell, who stars as Bobby Riggs?
“Well, we didn’t have many scenes together in this movie, which was sad! This is the second movie we’ve done together and in the first one (Crazy, Stupid, Love), we only had about two scenes together, even though we played father and daughter. So I’ve only acted with Steve for about three days of my life, but on those days we were working together, he was incredible. He is such a brilliant actor and he’s truly the kindest person I know, so the double whammy is pretty overwhelming! His portrayal of Bobby Riggs is beautiful. He brings the spirit of Bobby to life, the good guy underneath the circus-like personality.”
You also bring Billie Jean to life uncannily. How did you physically prepare for this role?
“I did a lot of weightlifting and played a lot of tennis and studied her. This is probably the most physical role that I’ve done in certain ways, and the preparation was a major aspect of my work.”
Billie Jean King was one of a group of women, known as “The Nine”, who broke away from the influential Lawn Tennis Association (LTA). Can you explain their significance and relevance?
“There were nine tennis players who were being paid an eighth of what the men were getting. So it was staggering. One of the things I found interesting was that Billie Jean and the other women were not saying, ‘we’re just as strong and fast as men.’ Their point was that women had the same entertainment value as men and sold the same number of tickets as men did. Essentially, if women had the same turnout and the same sales as men, The Nine were saying they should be paid equally. It was a completely logical argument. They were not being paid equally, so they started the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). The Nine were [supported] by Gladys Heldman (Sarah Silverman), the founder of World Tennis Magazine. We actually met her daughter, Julie, who was one of The Nine. Gladys sounds like she was a real spitfire, and Billie Jean credits Gladys with making it all happen.”
Bobby Riggs was a great showman, but Billie Jean was a great performer too, wasn’t she? I know you’ve spent time with Billie Jean – what did you discover about her as a tennis player and a woman?
“Billie Jean is a great entertainer. When she’s out on the court, it’s her stage. She and I talked a lot about that. I love doing theatre and I love dancing and she relates to me. I’ve seen documentaries of Billie Jean talking about how tennis is like dancing to her and how she grew up loving dance. She says: ‘the tennis court is my stage, tennis is my dancing.’ She is a performer in every sense of the word. Some athletes are focused on just the game, but Billie Jean definitely loved the showmanship of the Battle of the Sexes, because it introduced so many people to tennis… She was excited that so many people were going to see tennis for the first time and that kids who weren’t even aware of the sport were going to get a window into it in such a fun and over-the-top way. She embraced that with open arms.”
Who is Billie Jean at heart?
“I think she’s an optimist, and she believes in the good in people, so it doesn’t surprise me that she liked Bobby Riggs and that they were actually friends. Billie Jean was one of the last people to talk to him before he died. The more I learn about her, the more I realise she has a beautiful outlook on life. It doesn’t seem like she’s aged at all in terms of her personality and her belief system. It’s like being in the room with a 15-year-old, or an excited kid, where they have their whole life in front of them and they believe that great things can happen at any moment – which I believe is true, too. I have an optimistic side. In many ways, I think she’s actually the same person now that she was then, it’s just that now she’s free to be who she is, and doesn’t have to keep any secrets.”
Going back to the match, what was the actual Battle of the Sexes like?
“It was circus-like, enormous; it was probably the first time there was so much hype around a televised sporting event. Billie Jean and Bobby were doing commercials together. They were on the covers of magazines and newspapers for about four months leading up to it, so the whole world was watching. So many people I’ve talked to who were alive and of TV-watching age in 1973 saw the match. It’s like the sporting world’s version of the moon landing!”
Can you talk about the look of the film – it captures that era so well!
“The look of the film is incredibly ’70s, but not the kind of ’70s we’ve seen depicted over and over again on screen – with those browns and avocado greens and mustards (laughs). This film has a different feeling. Linus Sandgren (the Oscar-winning cinematographer for La La Land) is one of my favorite cinematographers in the world, and it was great to be in this world of pinks and blues and reds that he created, with a beautiful documentary style. The way this era has been captured is visually stunning. I love Mary Zophres’ costumes (she was nominated for Oscars for La La Land and True Grit) and I loved rocking the shag haircut that they gave me!”
Looking back, what did it mean for Billie Jean to win the Battle of the Sexes? Why was it so important to her?
“It meant a lot for Billie Jean to win – the effect it had on her life and on sports but also on society was immense. I don’t think she could have possibly known in that moment just how impactful the win would be going forward; that this would be such a definitive match. But I think in that moment, she did know it was going to have a huge impact on the women’s movement.”
Finally, why do you think the event continues to resonate today?
“It’s such an impactful story that I think so many people will relate to the themes of this movie. Unfortunately, things haven’t shifted that much since 1973 because right now, we’re in a position that’s not too far off from the story we’re telling, which took place 44 years ago. And what really struck me was how relevant it is today.”
