Emma Stonehas become one of the greatest movie stars of her generation. She can do comedy, drama, and romance; she can also be crazy and outrageous, and has incredibly great taste, making her career one that keeps getting more and more interesting. She might have started in small roles as the romantic interest, but afterEasy A, it was obvious she was a movie star of her own. Since then, Stone has been in franchises, indie films, unique TV projects, and she’s one of the greatestSaturday Night Liveguests of the last decade, as she’s always game to make a fool of herself.
In 2023 alone, she’s done two projects that couldn’t have been further apart if she tried, and she nails both of her characters inThe CurseTV series and the sci-fi film,Poor Things.A film that, if what critics are saying about her performance is true, could get the actress her second Academy Award. Here are Emma Stone’s 10 highest-grossing movies.
10Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011) - $145 Million
Crazy, Stupid, Love
Crazy, Stupid, Lovemixes many stories about love. At the center of them is just-divorced Cal (Steve Carell), who gets the help of womanizer, Jacob (Ryan Gosling), to start dating after Cal has spent most of his adult life married to Emily (Julianne Moore). Stone plays Hannah, a lawyer who hasn’t been lucky in love until she meets Jacob.
Stone and Gosling’s First Collaboration
The film has a great cast, an interesting idea, and it’s both surprisingly sexy and romantic. Carell might be the lead, but Gosling and Stone steal the movie from him, as their love story could’ve been a great full-time rom-com. This was the first collaboration between the two actors, and it was already a proven success that would be explored further inLa La Land.Stone creates a unique, interesting, quirky character who is very believable, and changes Jacob’s way of seeing relationships with women, as he’s falling in love with her.
Stream on TNT
9Friends With Benefits (2011) - $149.5 Million
Friends With Benefits
Friends With Benefitstells the story of Dylan (Justin Timberlake) and Jamie (Mila Kunis), who become friends, and, after some rough times in the romance department, decide to start having sex for fun. As with any romantic comedy, things become a bit more complicated and real than they intended at first.
Opening Scene Stealer
This was the time when rom-coms could still work at the box office, even if they had some more modern ideas about love and sex. Stone only appears in one scene, at the start of the film, when her character breaks up with Dylan. Even if it’s more of a cameo than a full role, the actress creates a real character with a full personality and steals the scene from the musician-turned-actor, getting the first laughs of the movie.
Stream on Netflix
Superbadlooks like the typical teenage comedy where the kids must find alcohol to get to a party, impress some girls, and maybe lose their virginity, but it has much more heart and soul, as the friendship between Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) is much more important.
Emma Stone’s Breakout Role
The story, the cast (who haskept super busyand become much more famous), the jokes, and McLovin are all reasons why this film still resonates with a whole generation. Stone plays Jules, Seth’s romantic interest, and doesn’t have that much to do, yet her easy chemistry with Hill and her charm make her an understandable crush for him. This was Stone’s breakout role, as she held the camera’s attention and made the audience want to know more about her character.
Stream on DIRECTV
7The Croods: A New Age (2020) - $215.9 Million
The Croods: A New Age
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After the surprising success of the first film, it was inevitable that a sequel would be on its way (there are also two TV series and two video games). InThe Croods: A New Age, the cavemen’s family finds the perfect place to live. The only problem is that they will have to become friends with the Bettermans, who are a much more advanced family.
More Development for Stone’s Voice-Acting
Animated sequels from successful franchises always work at the cinema, and this one was no different. The film has an interesting idea for conflict, and Stone gets more to do, as her character is already in a relationship with Guy (Ryan Reynolds), and gets a new friend, so she’s allowed to play more emotions than just being the older daughter that wants some independence, creating the most interesting character in the whole franchise.
Stream on Peacock
6The Help (2011) - $216.6 Million
Adapted from a successful book of the same name,The Helpwas a rare box office success that’s also loved by critics, as the film was nominated for four Academy Awards, and Octavia Spencer won for her supporting role in the movie.
The Help Catapulted Stone’s Career
Although the movie has been criticized in the last few years for using the white savior trope, and rightly so, as the movie should’ve been all about Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer’s characters, Stone’s role as the lead character, Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan, is still pretty good. She helps move the plot along and can handle herself in her scenes with those two acting titans. This was a much sought-afterrole, so the fact that Stone got it helped her career immensely.
Stream on Tubi
5Cruella (2021) - $233.5 Million
A live-action prequel feature film following a young Cruella de Vil. Starring Emma Stone.
Cruellais all about the younger years of the character who will become the villain of101 Dalmatians.Although there was no need for an origin story for Cruella de Vil, Stone is such a great performer that she makes the character unique and worthy, surprising audiences and making them change alliances. Here, Cruella is not yet a villain, but just a punk rock fashion designer who wants to avenge her mother, who was killed by a jealous designer, The Baroness (Emma Thompson, who is also having fun with her performance).
A Live-Action Disney Prequel Success
It’sone of Stone’s best movies, as she’s as charismatic as possible as the future villain, proving she’s an absolute movie star. Stone also looks like she’s having the time of her life, being as dramatic and cartoonish as possible, while still making the character matter. In a Hollywood full of superheroes, there are not that many good parts for female leads, and the actress proves here, that if she gets an opportunity for an interesting role, she can hit it out of the park.
Stream on Disney+
4La La Land (2016) - $471.9 Million
La La Land
La La Landis a beautiful musical that takes inspiration from the old Hollywood ones, creating a unique love story that feels old and new at the same time. The chemistry between Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling is off-the-charts, in their third film together, and director Damien Chazelle proved why he was one of the new Hollywood directors to watch out for.
Stone Won Her First Academy Award
It’sa perfect love story, with two of the most famous young actors in Hollywood, and an inventive way to do a musical, so it made sense that it would become a box office success. Stone is incredible as Mia, as she dances, sings, and shows every emotion, with her character having a roller-coaster relationship with Sebastian (Gosling). Critics might’ve thought the same, as the actress won her first (and, as of today, only) Academy Award for her performance as the up-and-coming actress who fell in love with the jazz musician.
3The Croods (2013) - $587.2 Million
The Croods
The Croodsis an animated film that tells the story of The Croods, a caveman family that must survive many natural disasters with the help of a boy from the future named Guy (Ryan Reynolds). Stone plays the teenage daughter of the family, Eep.
Stone’s Most Successful Animated Feature
An animated story for all the family with some great jokes and heart,The Croodsbecame a franchise after the success of this movie. Stone has a unique voice that makes her perfect for animation, and it’s surprising she hasn’t done more voice work. Even only using that instrument, the actress conveys perfectly the many emotional states of her character, who is ready for more independence, and has a romantic story in the movie.
2The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) - $708.9 Million
Even if the franchise wasn’t as loved as the one that came before (and the MCU one that would come later),The Amazing Spider-Man 2still has some great moments. It might be overstuffed, and with many plans for future movies, including many teasers for villains, but it still has a lot of heart thanks to its two lead actors.
Incredible Chemistry Between Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield
Garfield and Stone are great in it, as their characters are finally dating, and she knows the truth about his alter-ego, allowing for a much more sincere relationship. Stone has much more to do in the sequel, and her scenes might be the best thing in the whole movie, as she’s not only “the girlfriend,” but a character in her own right. Gwen Stacy’s story ends on a sad note, but if it wasn’t for Stone’s performance, audiences wouldn’t care, and she made the best of it, as the destiny of her character became one with this iteration of the franchise.
amazing spider-man 2
1The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) - $757.9 Million
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Manwas the reboot of the character after the Tobey Maguire trilogy. This time, once he’s bitten by a radioactive spider, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) has a different love interest in Gwen Stacy (Stone) and must fight a new villain, Curt Connors, AKA the Lizard (Rhys Ifans).
The Amazing Spider-Man Was Stone’s Biggest Box Office Success
Spider-Man might be the most popular superhero in the whole world, so every new iteration of the character should bring many people to the theaters, and this was no different. Directed by Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer), the film works best in the romantic story between Peter and Gwen, thanks to the incredible chemistry between the actors, who started dating in real life during the shooting of the film. Even if there’s a lot of action, the film is best when they’re together, as everything feels more real, raw, and honest. There was no need for a reboot of the character, butthe film deserves more credit, and this version of Parker by Garfield deserved better. So much so, that he might be the heart ofSpider-Man: No Way Home.
