Crazy, Stupid, Love directors recalled how Emma Stone left a lasting impression while auditioning for Hannah Weaver’s role. Glenn Ficarra revealed that other contenders were “shaken” by Ryan Gosling’s presence. However, that wasn’t the case with Stone, who remained unfazed and instead confidently called out Gosling when he fumbled a line during their script read.
Emma Stone bagged her Crazy, Stupid, Love role by roasting Ryan Gosling
In an interview with PEOPLE, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa shared a story from the audition process for the role of Hannah Weaver for Crazy, Stupid, Love. This conversation came as they celebrated the 15th anniversary of the beloved rom-com.
Ficarra revealed that early on, they wanted Emma Stone to audition for the role, but they weren’t able to secure her, as she lived in New York. He was also unaware whether she was busy or had personal reasons at the time. However, Ficarra said they eventually managed to summon her to read later, and it turned out to be “fantastic.”
He added, “So we put her together with Ryan [Gosling]. We did this whole day of actresses reading with Ryan, and a lot of them were really good.” He noted that the other female auditioners were kind of shaken when Gosling walked into the room. He clarified that Gosling was doing nothing in particular to elicit their reaction, but was just being himself. Ficarra also shared that they knew Stone was the perfect choice for the role.
“And then Emma came in, and Ryan said a line, and he flubbed the line. He was reading with her offscreen, flubbed the line, and Emma just, without missing a beat, was like, ‘Oh, you’re killing this. You’re doing great.’ She just flipped him the shit right then and there, and we were all just like, ‘Okay, that’s it. That’s the person.’ And we wanted to work with her desperately. Even in the small stuff she was doing, she’s so brilliant,” he explained.
The 2011 movie centers on a middle-aged man going through a divorce and trying to move on. That’s when he meets a young playboy, Jacob, who encourages him to start dating and changes his life dramatically.