The ‘Poor Things’ actress was reportedly the highest-earning actress at one point.

Actress Emma Stone has made waves this year with her Oscar-nominated performance in the dark comedy Poor Things. The actress was universally lauded for her performance as Bella Baxter in the period comedy which also starred Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, and Ramy Youssef. The film was directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, who collaborated with Stone again after The Favorite.

Emma Stone has been nominated thrice before, winning Best Actress once for La La Land. This time, Stone shares the nominations with actresses such as Lily Gladstone, Sandra Huller, Carey Mulligan, and Annette Bening. Despite her worldwide stardom, the Easy A star is reportedly not the richest actress in the nominations. That post reportedly goes to veteran actress Annette Bening, who is nominated for her role in Nyad.

Emma Stone Is Not The Richest Actress In This Year’s Best Actress Oscar Nominees

Emma Stone in Poor Things

Emma Stone has been having a dream run this year with her performance as Bella Baxter in Yorgos Lanthimos’ black comedy Poor Things. Based on the novel of the same name, the film also starred Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Christopher Abbott, Margaret Qualley, and more. The star-studded film has been nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress among others.

The film was Stone’s second Best Actress nomination, with her first being for La La Land. The actress has grown so much as an artist and as a celebrity since then. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Emma Stone has a whopping $40 million as her net worth from her film salaries and brand endorsements. The actress was once the highest-paid actress in the world. Stone was also a producer of the film.

Annette Bening in Nyad

However, despite her terrific earrings, Emma Stone was not the richest nominee on the 2024 Oscars list. The actress was reportedly beaten by veteran actress Annette Bening, who was nominated for her role in the drama Nyad. The actress was known for her work in films such as American Beauty, The Grifters, and Being Julia. She also had a flourishing TV and stage career.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Annette Bening was worth $70 million, making her the richest actress in 2024’s Oscar nominee list for Best Actress. Bening competed with Emma Stone, Sandra Huller, Carey Mulligan, and Lily Gladstone in the category. While Carey Mulligan came third place in the net worth rankings, the gap between Stone and Mulligan was huge as the latter was worth $12 million (via Celebrity Net Worth).

Emma Stone Prepared For Poor Things Extensively

A still from Poor Things

Emma Stone reportedly got to know about Poor Things when she was working with director Yorgos Lanthimos on the film The Favorite. The actress mentioned that playing Bella Baxter was the simplest character she had ever played. Baxter is a woman who is resurrected after a brain transplant and goes on a journey of self-discovery.

Stone mentioned that she had to unlearn a lot of her experiences and events to be able to play the character, who has received a new lease on life. She said in an interview with Backstage that Bella was a character without much of a backstory as she had been resurrected and had no experiences. She said,
“[My prep work began by] stripping away as much as possible—taking away shame, taking away self-judgment and judgment of the outer world, and just remaining completely open. To actually live in that…means you really can’t have this self-criticism that’s just normal for anyone to have.” 

The actress revealed that director Yorgos Lanthimos got the cast comfortable with each other and loosened up by making them play a bunch of theater games. She mentioned that there were three weeks of rehearsals which gave her the confidence to play the character. Lanthimos reportedly also had a lot of ‘fake camera tests’ to conclude the rehearsals.
“The purpose that [rehearsing] serves—and it really does this well—is to make us all feel very, very close. Like, there is no embarrassment around each other, and we can almost be like a theater company.”
Yorgos Lanthimos’ intense preparation seemed to have worked for Emma Stone as she received her second Best Actress Oscar nomination.