14 DAY TRIAL // Cameron Crowe’s star-studded “Aloha” was supposed to be one of the hottest releases of 2015, but it flopped badly at the box office and in terms of critical reception. The fact that it had Emma Stone play a character who was part Asian contributed to the negative pre-release buzz that killed its chances of success.
The writer and director has apologized for whitewashing the film and tried to explain why Allison Ng, Stone’s character, was played by a white woman. Still, though he wrote and cast Stone in the role, it’s the actress who’s taking the fall in the media.
Emma Stone apologizes
Emma will be seen next opposite Joaquin Phoenix in “Irrational Man,” from director Woody Allen, but in a recent interview to promote it, she was asked about “Aloha,” E! News reports. As it turns out, she takes full responsibility for the media debacle, saying she’s learned an important lesson and hinting that she should have known better than to accept the part.
Obviously, the character shouldn’t have been white, but making the mistake of playing it has given her the chance to look back and see the faults within the industry. That’s a mistake she won’t be doing again.
“I’ve become the butt of many jokes,” Emma says. “I’ve learned on a macro level about the insane history of whitewashing in Hollywood and how prevalent the problem truly is. It’s ignited a conversation that’s very important.”
About ageism
Speaking of issues within the industry of film, Stone also mentions one topic that’s been getting many headlines in recent months: ageism. Actresses like Maggie Gyllenhaal have come forward to recall how they’d been told they were “too old” to play the lover of a 50-year-old man on camera, even though they were 30s.
Even bigger stars like Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet and Helen Mirren have gone on the record to say that they know, from painful personal experience, how “invisible” you become to studio bosses and casting directors after a certain age.
Emma Stone is 26 years old but she too has had more than one brush with ageism. She’s yet to be told she’s “too old” for a part, but much like Jennifer Lawrence, she’s usually cast for characters that are 10 good years older than she is in real life, playing the love interest of much older men.
Hollywood is determined to keep all its leading female stars in their 20s, while men can grow old successfully in front of the camera. Emma is just one of the many voices to call for action in this sense: we need more diversity, she says in this new interview.
Ironically, in “Irrational Man,” she plays the lover of Joaquin Phoenix’s character. Phoenix is 14 years her senior.