Last night, Emma Stone took home her second Academy Award at the 2024 Oscars!
Emma, 35, won the award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her incredible performance in Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things. In the film, she portrays Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life with the brain of an infant via a transplant and winds up embarking on a moving journey of self-discovery.
Emma previously won the Oscar for Best Actress in 2017 for her work in La La Land.
Poor Things received a total of 11 Oscar nominations this year and won four of those: for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Actress in a Leading Role.
Also nominated in Best Actress category were Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall), Carey Mulligan (Maestro), Annette Bening (Nyad), and Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon).
For some quick context, Lily, who uses she/they pronouns, made history with their Oscar nomination as the first Native American person — and fourth Indigenous person — to be nominated for an Academy Award. Her Siksikaitsitapi and Nimiipuu heritage massively influenced the Martin Scorsese film, with her costar and close friend Leonardo DiCaprio repeatedly praising just how vital she was in the shaping of the script.
A couple of months ago, at the Screen Actors Guild awards, Lily won the award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role — beating out Emma, who was nominated in the same category for her work in Poor Things.
And several people are now convinced that Emma was rooting for Lily to take home the Oscar, too, with the actor’s unexpected reaction to winning going viral online again.
As soon as Emma’s name was read aloud as the winner, she was seen looking visibly overwhelmed in her seat as her face “dropped.”
After a few moments, Emma eventually made her way onto the stage to accept the award. And during her speech, she was sure to honor Lily — as well as the other nominees in the Best Actress category.
“This is really overwhelming,” she stated onstage through heavy breaths. “The women on the stage — you are all incredible,” she said of the past Best Actress winners who had presented the nominees.
Emma continued, “And the women in this category...Sandra, Annette, Carey, Lily, I share this with you. I’m in awe of you.”
In the crowd, Lily — who had immediately applauded Emma after her win was announced — appeared super touched by her mention of the other nominees in her acceptance speech.
Emma’s shocked reaction to winning the Oscar left several internet users speculating that she’d been expecting Lily to take home the award, and it wound up sparking a load of discourse online.
Others suggested that Emma was just “surprised” and “overwhelmed” to learn that she’d won.
Meanwhile, some users defended Emma’s incredible performance and suggested that her win was certainly deserved. Others, on the other hand, said they felt that Lily was “robbed” of the accolade.
It’s worth noting that fans were especially disappointed about Lily’s loss given the infamous lack of diversity among the academy’s winners. Several people suggested that Emma’s win was another example of the academy being “washed,” and noted that it missed out on a “really historic moment.”
Elsewhere, the film's director, Martin Scorsese, was filmed seemingly consoling Lily after the award was announced, while she and Emma were also seen embracing during a commercial break.
Well, reflecting on her own viral reaction to her win, Emma later revealed that she was totally “shocked” to have taken home the Oscar.
Speaking backstage at the post-Oscars press conference, Emma was asked about her unexpected response to winning Best Actress. She replied, “I think I blacked out...I was very shocked...I still feel like I’m spinning a little bit.”
“It’s a huge honor and I’m very surprised,” she added.
