Now, following the relatively low-key Battles of the Sexes (2017) and The Favourite (2018), Stone is reprising one of her earliest roles with the ensemble comedy Zombieland: Double Tap, released on October 24 – almost exactly 10 years after the original Zombieland was named America’s highest-grossing zombie movie ever.

Here the star, who turns 31 on November 6, talks traumatic auditions, overcoming early insecurities and the invaluable advice of Diane Keaton.

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She started young

“Even as a child I knew that I wanted to act. I couldn’t imagine any other life for me. I grew up wanting to make movies similar to those I loved watching so much.

“As a child I discovered that film was this parallel world that I could dive into. That’s how I started to watch movies all the time and wanted to be part of that world. And it’s been such an incredible joy for me to have been able to work as much as I have and fulfil that dream.

“I lived with my mother in a small apartment in La Brea Park, Los Angeles. I never went out by myself. I would always go out with my mum and we spent a lot of time going to the movies. I wasn’t going to school and I didn’t have any friends, zero social life, and I basically just studied at home and watched a lot of movies and tried to learn as much about acting as I could.

“Sometimes I felt lonely but my mother was so good and supportive, so I felt very safe and supported, and that gave me the confidence I needed to go to auditions and deal with all the rejection and the fear of not being able to make it. But I never gave up and slowly I was able to build my career.”

She has had some traumatic auditions

“I came to Hollywood when I was 15 and, unfortunately, I have many bad experiences from auditioning which I was able to use to play (La La Land’s) Mia. Almost every actor I know has terrible audition stories; my worst memory was when I wasn’t allowed to have my lines before the actual audition took place. I was 16 at the time and I was having trouble getting the lines right and this woman, the casting director, started screaming at me and telling me how unprofessional I was. It was insane.”

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She still feels insecure

“I still have a lot of doubts and insecurities that weigh on me. It’s nothing like how I felt in my early twenties when I was struggling much more with everything. [When I first started], nobody wanted to hire a 15-year-old actress with a deep and raspy voice. I sounded much older than I looked and I hated my voice at the time.

“But in another way I was glad I sounded older because I never liked the idea of being a child. I was a precocious child and I couldn’t wait to be an adult. And at one point my voice really began to fit with who I am.

“But I feel that now, at 30, I understand so much more about who I am and how I see my career and life evolving, and it’s made me less anxious. But I also enjoy being vulnerable and experiencing both success and failure – where you can have experiences like La La Land (2016) and then your next film, like Battle of the Sexes (2017), doesn’t go anywhere (it grossed US$18.4 million against a US$25 million budget).”

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She prefers New York to Los Angeles

“I love New York because there are so many different things going on; people are involved in many different kinds of work, which is different from LA, where life revolves around the film business – it’s hard to spend one day without meeting or being with people who are in some way connected to your industry. New York gives me a chance to feel that I can get away from thinking about the business and also be in a place where people don’t really care that much if you’re an actor. I feel I can be more anonymous here because the city has a life of its own and people respect your privacy.”

Actress Diane Keaton gave her helpful advice

“Diane Keaton told me that I need to have the courage to be myself and follow my instincts without being worried or letting fear get in my way. She told me that I need to believe in myself and appreciate the fact that if I’m able to draw audiences towards me, it’s because of my eccentricity, my loud laugh, and my voice that’s too hoarse. Those are the qualities that have got me this far and I should embrace them.”

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