Emma Stone: Movies of My Life

The Chatty Cathy part in Planes, Trains and Automobiles [where Steve Martin tells John Candy he talks too much]. You go from laughing hilariously at Steve Martin to your heart breaking for John Candy in that one scene, and that was, I think, the first time that I saw that you could do both. Also Harold and Maude — Ruth Gordon was a big one for me. The moment where she’s sitting by the tree and she sneezes when he sees her for the first time? That was huge.

It’s my dad’s favorite movie. Laughter is what symbolizes love to me because of watching The Jerk with my dad. I think that’s partially why I do comedy.

If we’re being honest, it was Spice World. I wanted platform shoes and crop tops and I wanted to dress like the Spice Girls. I got platform Skechers. I had bell-bottoms. A lot of peace signs. I cut bangs like Baby Spice because I had blond hair. I wanted to be Baby Spice. I wasn’t Baby because my voice sounded exactly like it does now, and I had that spunky energy going on — I wasn’t [does a baby voice] super demure and sweet. But I really wanted to be.

Lydia in Beetlejuice. Because she’s awesome. She gets to go into the underworld. I liked spooky things. Whenever we would go on vacations, I would want to go see weird things. When we went to San Francisco as a family, I made them take me to the house that Charles Manson lived in. I blame my mom for part of it. When I was 10, she went on this whole genealogy search and took us to the East Coast, and we went on a weeklong vacation where we went gravestone rubbing. I love all things spooky. [Does a comically serious voice] I’m a Scorpio, you know.

The Shawshank Redemption. My dad showed me that when I was 7 or 8. Thankfully, my parents weren’t too crazy about censorship. And I didn’t turn out to be a murderer or anything. My dad loved it. It’s funny how your parents rub off on you that way.

The Exorcist. I saw it when I was a kid, and I didn’t sleep for weeks. Then I found out it was based on a true story, and I was like [shudders]. It was the most terrifying movie ever. It’s the psychological stuff that gets me.

Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic. I saw it a thousand billion times. [Laughs] No, I saw it seven times in theaters. I have a weird thing where I like… Well, I shouldn’t go into it, because I’ve met him now, and it’s one of those weird things where you never think you’ll meet him. But I’m talking about 23-year-old Leo in Titanic. There’s something I really like about affectations with people’s mouths, and he does this thing where the left side of his lip goes down when he talks. [Swoons] Oh, I love it. It got me.

The whole scene with Ryan [Gosling] from Crazy, Stupid, Love where we get to know each other. It was all improv, so most of the things we’re saying there are true. Like when he’s talking about the stuff he ordered online or makes me do my Lauren Bacall impression, which is an actual thing that I like to do. The story about how I won the spelling bee when I was 8 and my dad cried — that was real. We were just messing around, so that always makes me laugh.

Annie Hall‘s signature costume, with the tie and the vest. I went as her for Halloween a couple years ago. I was just like, ”I want to wear this every day.” It’s so good. Basically any way Diane Keaton dresses in those Woody Allen movies. Like in Manhattan, she dresses so great with her hair piled up on her head.

La Vie en Rose, which I’ve seen at least five times. I watch it, like, once every six months now. I just finally purchased it. I think Marion Cotillard is the best actress of her generation.

Haunted Honeymoon with Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner. It’s a spooky honeymoon movie. It’s very screwball comedy, and I think it would be really funny to do. Gilda is my favorite because she’s my mom’s favorite. I grew up watching her. When I hosted SNL in November, Lorne let me wear a Roseanne Roseannadanna wig in one of my photos. It was one of the coolest moments of my life.

I’ve seen The Holiday, like, 12 times. Nancy Meyers, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law. Whenever it’s on, I watch it. Let me tell you something about Nancy Meyers: She is my comfort food. I looove a Nancy Meyers movie. All the white and the linen.

Sleepless in Seattle. God, I love it. I love Tom Hanks. The part where Rita Wilson is telling the story of An Affair to Remember and crying, and [Hanks] just goes, ”That’s a chick’s movie!” [Laughs]

Grease. Every word. I loved [the song] ”Grease,” which isn’t even in the original musical. I’m a Rizzo. I love Stockard Channing. [Singing] ”Look at me, I’m Sandra Dee…”

Right now it’s Bridesmaids. Oh, and the entire monologue from Planes, Trains and Automobiles was the bane of my mom’s existence when I was a kid because I would recite the whole thing. You know, when Steve Martin says, ”I want a f—ing car. Right. F—ing. Now.” My mom was like, ”You are 9!”

Peter Finch in Network, the scene where he’s in the raincoat, and he comes storming in and gives that speech [”I’m as mad as hell…”] on camera. That is great acting. He just was that part. That’s one of those things where you realize that some roles are destined for certain actors. He was meant to play Howard Beale.

Probably the last movie I saw. [Laughs] I’m a huge crier. Moonrise Kingdom, the scene where they’re on the beach and they kiss for the first time. I love that little boy so much. He just broke my heart.

You’ve got to see City Lights. It’s my favorite movie of all time. The last five minutes of that movie will change your life. It changed mine. I realized where every romantic comedy comes from — what everyone is trying to achieve. It’s the most romantic, touching… If I think about it too long, I’ll cry. It’s just so simple.

I welled up at the trailer for the Bill Murray FDR movie [Hyde Park on Hudson, out Dec. 7]. I’m so excited for that. I’m such a huge Bill Murray fan. It goes back to SNL, to him being Todd to Gilda’s Lisa Loopner. And then working with him on Zombieland was the best two days of my life.