Spider-Man Star Emma Stone: Jennifer Lawrence Gave Me Courage To Play Gwen Stacy

Emma Stone will soon make her mark on superhero film history, playing Gwen Stacy alongside Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Marc Webb’s upcoming, “The Amazing Spider-Man.”

While many actresses would leap at the chance to play the mega role, Emma was initially hesitant to sign on, but found strength in the words of another blockbuster newcomer, Jennifer Lawrence.

“I love Jennifer Lawrence and I watched a lot of her interviews for ‘Hunger Games’ — it was kind of the same thing she was feeling,” the actress told Access Hollywood’s Scott Mantz at “The Amazing Spider-Man” junket in New York on Saturday, referencing Jennifer’s publicized trepidation toward taking on Katniss Everdeen. “What scared me was the idea of, ‘What could happen to my life after doing something like this?’

“But the part and the process outweighed that fear,” Emma continued. “It felt like a stupid reason to not be part of this — what might happen [and] how [my] life could change didn’t feel like enough of a reason to not play Gwen, not to get to be involved with this and not to get to act with Andrew or to get to tell the story in a different way.”

With 2011’s wildly successful “The Help” under her belt, it may seem strange that Emma would fear becoming involved with a big movie, as she’s already a household name. However, at the time of her initial “Spider-Man” audition, the 23-year-old’s star was just beginning to rise.

“I auditioned on the day that ‘Easy A’ came out, and I was in the middle of shooting, ‘The Help,’ so it was a very different time period,” she explained. “It was the end of 2010 so it was very different than now. So, it’s mindboggling.”

When news broke of Emma’s impending involvement with the project, fans suspected she would be assuming the role of Spidey’s most well-known lady love, Mary Jane, due to her shiny red locks, and Emma confessed she would have loved to play the legendary girl next door.

“I know, it’s surprising,” she said, when asked about being cast as Gwen, despite her resemblance to Mary Jane. “I love Mary Jane so much, so it kind of breaks my heart that I couldn’t be Mary Jane as well!”

“The Amazing Spider-Man,” starring Emma, Andrew Garfield, Rhys Ifans and more, swings into theaters on July 3.

–Erin O’Sullivan

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