Emma’s worked with some of
the hottest men in Hollywood- including her Amazing Spider-
Man co-star and former beau
Andrew Garfield. While Andrew
refuses to comment on rumours the
pair are back together, it’s clear she
still has a place in his heart. ‘It’s been
bliss to be able to watch her success
and watch her bloom into the actress
she is,’ the Brit says. And, of course,
Emma’s buddy Ryan Gosling has
joined her in no less than three films - Crazy, Stupid, Love, Gangster Squad
and La La Land! ‘He has a restraining
order against me now,’ she jokes.
48 WWW.OKMAGAZINE.COM.AU
OK! INTERVIEW
TEXT BY AMBER BRAMBLE PHOTOGRAPHS BY BACKGRID, REX SHUTTERSTOCKvelvet cupcake,’ she says of pressure to be thin.
Here, we find out a little more about Emma
and what the superstar has lined up next.
You met Billie Jean in real life – is it weird
to think of her watching you play her?
Luckily, Billie Jean is a pure force of nature and
positivity. I didn’t talk to her too much while
filming because it was too much pressure and
she has all the benefit of hindsight of decades
older now. But it was really scary at first.
IT’S HARD FOR RYAN
AND I NOT TO BURST
OUT LAUGHING
WHILE FILMING
Was it hard to copy her convincingly?
We quickly learnt that the choreography
would be the most important thing,
because learning how to do a serve or
backhand like Billie Jean was more of an
impossible dream than a reality. This was
the first time where I really thought through
the physicality [of a character]... There was
a lot of bulking up, tennis lessons, learning
her stance, and feeling my way into her
body. She is a machine.Are you usually a fan of exercise?
If there isn’t someone yelling in my face then
I’m just not into it. Pilates is the one thing that
makes me happy. But other than that, it puts
me in a bad mood to lift stuff over my head.You have black hair as Billie Jean and it’s
always changing. What’s your natural shade?
My hair grows out blonde, but my colouring
is similar to that of a redhead. I’m a natural
blonde, but I really like having red hair.You also filmed your first sex scene in the
movie with co-star Andrea Riseborough...
I couldn’t be luckier. She is truly the most
transformative, incredible actor. So it was
like a true lucky break on my part.Like Billie Jean, you’re a vocal feminist.
Have things changed much on a social
scale since the Battle of the Sexes era?
A woman couldn’t get a credit card without
a man signing off on it, so that gives you a
snapshot of that time. I was born in ’88, so
it was fascinating to learn about. It’s slightly
disappointing to see how relevant some of
these themes still are today. I mean, the fight
for equal pay and equal treatment and just
basic human rights. Also, the kind of rhetoric
that the men use in the movie, to hear it in
our culture still to this day is kind of shocking
and scary. We’ve still got a long way to go.You still don’t receive equal pay to your
male co-stars, right?
In my career so far, I’ve needed my co-stars to
take a pay cut so I may have parity with them.
And that’s something they do for me because
they feel it’s what’s right and what’s fair. That’s
something that’s not discussed, necessarily- that our equal pay is going to require people
to selflessly say, ‘That’s what’s fair.’ It’s not
about ‘women are this and men are that.’ It
is, ‘We are all the same, we are all equal, we all
deserve the same respect and the same rights.’
You and Ryan Gosling have been called one
of the best on-screen couples of all time.
Does it help that you’re friends in real life?
It’s hard for us not to burst out laughing while
we’re doing some of our scenes. Ryan is very
sweet and kind and he’s a devoted dad.HER
MAIN
MEN
‘[We have a] similar
sense of humour and
a similar mentality,’
Emma gushes of her
three-time co-starDespite calling off
their four-year love
affair in 2015, Emma
and Andrew have
remained close