In the vein of 90s hits like Clueless and 10 Things I Hate About You high-school comedy Easy A offers both a modern interpretation of a classic story and an intelligent teen Film. With a distinct 21st Century twist on promiscuity the film is loosely based on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1850 classic The Scarlet Letter. In Hawthorne's novel, the central character, Hester Prynee lives in 17th Century puritanical Boston. When Hester commits adultery and has another man’s baby, she is ostracised by her community, who force her to wear a scarlet letter A. In Easy A, Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone in her first leading role) attends a high school with a strong teen abstinence group who are outraged when she pretends to lose her virginity. As the school’s rumour mill goes into overdrive Olive embraces the increased social recognition, branding herself with a red letter A.What attracted Stone to the project? “I work in a business that is so fuelled by rumours and the rumour mill, and what people think about you without ever really getting to know you. So it’s interesting to explore someone who goes the other way; most people spend their time denying what isn’t true, but Olive takes it to the other extreme and decides to become this caricature of what the rumours have said about her and fuels it herself.”
Olive is a clean-cut teenager who flies under the social radar at school- until she pretends to sleep with her gay friend Brandon (Dan Byrd), who is being bullied. The ruse brings Olive newfound poularity and a chance for financial gain. Stone explains that- “[T]here’s really the sense of wanting to help someone that needs it and [she] is just trying to survive high school as well. So I think it’s a mix of wanting to see what notoriety feels like- she’s not a martyr.” Stone also saw a little of her own personality in the character. “I loved playing Olive because she’s not too far off from my own sarcastic self, with her verbal diarrhoea.”
Easy A gave Stone the opportunity to work with some impressive names including Patricia Clarkson (Cairo Time) and Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada), who play her parents. “I had no idea that Patty was so kooky; she was always dancing and nuts, and completely justified why Olive was the way she was. I was so grateful to her for that. And Stanley is just unbelievable; shooting with them was the best three days ever. I’m kind of a walking sponge when it comes to working with actors I admire.”
Stone, who made her film debut as Jonah Hill's love interest in the 2007 smash hit Superbad, has a flair for comedic roles. “I watched a lot of comedies when I was a kid and didn’t really connect the dots but then they put me in a school play when I was little and I thought, ‘Wow this is really fun’, and then I really got some kind of bug after seeing The Jerk and Planes, Trains and Automobiles. I was like, ‘I want to go into comedy.’”
In Easy A Olive’s new social status at school doesn’t come without its critics. Amanda Bynes (She’s the Man, Hairspray) plays Marianne, Olive’s absentince preaching nemesis. Appalled by Olive’s behaviour, Marianne plots to have her thrown out of school by spreading malicious rumours. Although it’s a comedy Easy A also looks at the serious issue of bullying- especially its topical online aspects. Stone feels there is an important message for the film’s audience. “There are so many questions in this day and age about bullying and about cyber bullying and kids that are literally taking their own lives because of rumours started about them and crap on the internet that horrible kids are saying. So if people can take anything from this it is that the people who are bullying you are the insecure ones. And what you are doing is not wrong. They are just asses, and if you can deal with them, you’ll emerge a stronger person.”
In Easy A Olive’s new social status at school doesn’t come without its critics. Amanda Bynes (She’s the Man, Hairspray) plays Marianne, Olive’s absentince preaching nemesis. Appalled by Olive’s behaviour, Marianne plots to have her thrown out of school by spreading malicious rumours. Although it’s a comedy Easy A also looks at the serious issue of bullying- especially its topical online aspects. Stone feels there is an important message for the film’s audience. “There are so many questions in this day and age about bullying and about cyber bullying and kids that are literally taking their own lives because of rumours started about them and crap on the internet that horrible kids are saying. So if people can take anything from this it is that the people who are bullying you are the insecure ones. And what you are doing is not wrong. They are just asses, and if you can deal with them, you’ll emerge a stronger person.”
Along with Superbad, Stone is also known for her role as savvy Wichita in popular horror-comedy, Zombieland, alongside Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson. Easy A is set to propel Stone into the leading-lady stratosphere- is she ready for the increased attention this will bring? “I have a very liveable life compared to a lot of people my age who do what we do, like Kristen Stewart or someone. I think it’s terrifying. Talking to people about the work you’ve done, that’s great, it’s part of the job, but to think of someone being outside your house, that freaks me out. So I guess I’m not prepared at all!”
Stone has plenty of projects lined up, including a change of pace. “I get to go to Mississippi to shoot this movie called The Help, which is based on this incredible book. It takes place during the Civil Rights movement in the ‘60s, is set in the deep South and is very different from what I’ve done before. It’s my first ever non-comedy.” Fans of Stone’s comedic talents needn’t fear- “I recently finished Crazy, Stupid, Love with Steve Carell, Julianne Moore and Ryan Gosling. I’m in a really good place right now.”
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First Published in The Brag 06/09/10
