All Hollywood actors have their ups and downs. No matter how long or short their career is, all actors have taken a not-so-great role at some point. While many actors have made a comeback after starring in movies that were huge commercial flops, starring in a bad movie has also greatly damaged the career of plenty of stars.
Emma Stone is an award-winning actress that has starred in many great movies. Unfortunately, she’s also made some movies that aren’t so great.
For example, in 2015, she starred in a movie that even Sony producers knew would be a failure. Most recently, the La La Land star made a terrible decision by losing a role to Emma Watson and, instead, going on to star in a not-so-great sequel.
Zombieland Was A Huge Step In Emma Stone’s Career
Believe it or not, Emma Stone started her career on a reality show. Stone made her television debut as Laurie Partridge on the VH1 talent competition In Search of the New Partridge Family (2004). She won the competition and landed a role in the resulting show, The New Partridge Family, which unfortunately remained as an unsold pilot.
Despite this bad experience, Stone kept pursuing acting opportunities both in television and movies. Until she finally made her feature film debut in 2007, when she landed a role in Greg Mottola's comedy Superbad, co-starring Michael Cera, and Jonah Hill.
The film was a commercial success, making more than $170 million at the box office across the world. Moreover, it helped launch Emma Stone’s career and earned her the Young Hollywood Award for Exciting New Face.
Two years later, Emma Stone would go on to star in Ruben Fleischer's Zombieland (2009) alongside Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, and Abigail Breslin.
In this multi-million-grossing film, Stone portrayed a con artist and survivor of a zombie apocalypse, a role that would gain her plenty of praise. For example, a critic from The Daily Telegraph found "the hugely promising Stone" to be "a tough cookie who projects the aura of being wiser than her years".
Zombieland: Double Tap Wasn’t As Successful As The Original Movie
The first Zombieland movie was a huge commercial success. According to Box Office Mojo, it grossed out more than $102 million worldwide, surpassing its $23 million budget by a lot.
Moreover, the movie received plenty of critical praise. With an 86% score on Rotten Tomatoes, based on the reviews of 259 critics, the movie was highly praised for its combination of funny and gory moments.
However, as it often happens in Hollywood, its sequel didn’t have the same luck. Zombieland: Double Tap (2019) grossed out over $73 million in the U.S. and $49 million at the box office internationally.
Moreover, the movie only got a 68% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus being that it lacked some of the brains and funny moments that made the first movie so enjoyable.
Emma Stone Lost This Role To Emma Watson Before Deciding To Star In Zombieland: Double Tap
While Zombieland: Double Tap was a complete box office flop, Emma Stone could have appeared in a more critically acclaimed movie instead had she not lost the role out to Emma Watson.
Emma Stone was originally set to star in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women (2019) alongside Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, and Timothée Chalamet.
But then it was announced that Emma Watson would step in to take the role of Meg March instead. According to Variety, Stone was unable to take on this role because of scheduling conflicts.
Little Women would go on to make more than $210 million at the box office worldwide. Moreover, the movie received plenty of critical praise and was nominated for multiple awards, including various Academy Awards for Best Achievement in Costume Design, Best Motion Picture of the Year, and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for Florence Pugh.