Emma Stone’s ‘Crazy Stupid Love’ Co-Star Panicked Because of Their Unscripted Kiss Scene
Emma Stone surprised her Crazy, Stupid, Love co-star when the two had to lock lips for a scene. The moment in question caught Stone’s love interest off guard given how unexpected it was.
Emma Stone helped calm down her ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’ co-star before unscripted kiss
Ryan Gosling wasn’t Stone’s only love interest in the 2011 Steve Carrell comedy. Singer Josh Groban played the actor’s initial boyfriend in the movie, who isn’t the most considerate lover to Stone’s character. He won the role in a very traditional way. But Groban joked that he felt a bit conflicted portraying such a mean-spirited partner.
“I went in for the audition and after one reading the casting director said, ‘Oh my god, you’re just perfect.’ I was really excited for a moment, then it dawned on me: ‘I just nailed the douchebag character.’ I could have used a few takes, maybe some notes to get me there. But no, I guess I had it in me all along,” he once told GQ.
Groban further joked that his kiss with The Favourite star made securing the character worth it. But the kiss itself was a surprise, and it briefly sent the artist into a brief panic.
“At the end of one of our scenes the directors came up to us and said, ‘You know, this is feeling a little goofy. Let’s just try to make this more believable with a kiss at the end.’ And I’m thinking, ‘Holy s***. That wasn’t in the script. I’ve never kissed on camera before. What does that mean? What do I have to do? I didn’t take that class in college,’” Groban remembered.
Fortunately, Stone was able to immediately calm the singer’s nerves.
“And Emma’s just this total pro. She pulls out her lip-gloss, and says, ‘It’s cherry. That cool with you?’ I mean, that kiss shall forever be my deer in ‘Stand By Me’; my moment alone, no one will ever be able to treasure it but me,” he said.
‘Crazy, Stupid Love’ director felt Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling loved each other for real while shooting the film
Apart from Groban, Stone would also work alongside Gosling for the first time too in the feature. The film’s directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa had already cast Gosling as the lead in the movie. They tested several other actors alongside Gosling, but Stone stood out because of her response to her future co-star. Ficarra felt other actors were too nervous around Gosling during auditions, whereas Stone wasn’t.
“When Emma came in, she sat down, she was ready to go; Ryan walked in, immediately flubbed his first line, and she just laid into him, like, ‘Oh, you’re killing this buddy.’ She was the only one not to be intimidated by him, and in that moment John and I knew, ‘All right this is it, she’s right for the part,’” Ficarra once told Entertainment Weekly.
Ficarra recalled that Stone and Gosling shared a close blond on set. He felt that their growing friendship helped play a part in their authentic performances on screen.
“They love each other in real life, and they get on like a house on fire. It wasn’t a lot of heavy lifting on our part. It’s making a move to hire the right chemistry,” Ficarra said.
Emma Stone caught her ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’ director off guard with her dramatic scene with Josh Groban
Ficarra also saw a glimpse of Stone’s potential as an actor. There was a key scene that Stone had with Groban that the director couldn’t have been more impressed by.
“I remember working with Emma on one of the scenes with Josh Groban. She went to this dramatic place when she realizes that she doesn’t want to marry him,” Ficarra said. “I remember being totally taken off guard by how deep she went. You could see it in her eyes. I remember turning to John and going, ‘She’s going to be a phenomenal dramatic actress. I would love to see her in a drama or direct her in one.’ Consequently, she’s top of our list all the time.”
