Emma Stone - 'The Amazing Spider-Man' exclusive Q&A.

'The Amazing Spider-Man' available in NZ on Blu-Ray and DVD from October 31st, 2012.

Read an exclusive Q&A with Emma Stone below, who played Gwen Stacy in one of our favourite comic book movies of 2012 [so far]...

Q: Growing up, did you have a favourite comic book hero?
EMMA STONE: I didn’t read comic books growing up but I watched pretty much all of the comic book movies. My favourite character was Michael Keaton’s 'Batman'.

Q: How do you prepare for a role?
EMMA: It depends on the role. Some of them have to be so instinctual that you just go in with guns blazing. For this, it was really learning the history of Gwen and Peter Parker and Marvel in general. I hadn’t been exposed to the comic books growing up, so it was important to learn about the history of Gwen. Then we went to a couple science centers, which was really exciting. I injected an axolotl to put it to sleep so they could cut its arm off and watch it re-grow. I mean put it to sleep in the literal sense, not in the euthanizing sense. I learned how much I love biology. I was home-schooled so I really wasn’t in biology class. I never got to cut open a frog or dissect anything.

Q: But you’ve played a lot of students in movies…
EMMA: I know. I got to be a student in 'Superbad' and 'Easy A' and now this. I’ve experienced so many senior years. Senior year is either crazy and alcohol-fueled or sex rumor-fueled or superhero-fueled.

Q: Plus you were a college student in 'The House Bunny'…
EMMA: That’s true. 'The House Bunny' is all about makeovers. You get made over in college.

Q: Do you wish you had attended a normal high school?
EMMA: High school, no. College, yes. In recent years, I was college age. I was like, yeah, I’m skipping out on that. You guys have to go to school. Now that it’s over and everyone’s graduated and has jobs, I’m like, wait, what was college like? Was it fun? I bet it was fun. So that’s something that I kind of now do wish I had experienced. The nice thing is you can always learn.

Q: In researching Gwen Stacy, were you surprised to discover that she dies?
EMMA: That was my biggest draw for wanting to be part of this. That’s my life-long obsession with mortality and death. I’m a Scorpio, so…[Laughs] No, really, that was such an incredibly tragic and unexpected element and I know it was so shocking when it happened. I’m really morbidly excited to experience that.

Q: How does that obsession manifest itself?
EMMA: In going to places like the anatomy library and looking at little fetal pigs in jars.

Q: Do you think about it constantly?
EMMA: Not constantly but on a daily basis. There’s an awareness of mortality that I think makes you live much more presently. That’s the reality here. What are you so worried about? In any particular moment, there’s something really oddly comforting about death. [Laughs] Not dying. Dying I’m terrified of. 

Q: If you’re not scared of death, what scares you?
EMMA: Needles. Pain scares me. Dying scares me. Losing those that I love. Pain. Period. Breaking bones and ribs. That scares me. Crazy assholes in power. That scares me.

Q: Are you scared of spiders?
EMMA: Yeah. I don’t like spiders. Spiders aren’t my ultimate fear but I do not enjoy spiders.

Q: How different was it working on a movie this size?
EMMA: Working on it wasn’t that different from anything else because you’re still doing the same thing: you’re playing a character and doing a scene with another person. The only time it was different was when there was a giant seven-foot man in a uni-tard with a black hoodie and little dots all over him. You’re like, [mock-scared] “It’s a lizard!” That was different. But that didn’t happen too much. It didn’t strike me until now, with the press and the global element of it as to what’s different about this movie. Of course, I knew that people are huge, avid fans of Spider-Man and that it is a large franchise but you don’t really understand the reality until you’re thrust into it.

Q: Do you enjoy the glamorous side of your job, like wearing lavish gowns?     
EMMA: That doesn’t bum me out that much. I’m not like, “Oh, boy, here’s that outfit.” It’s sort of fun to dress up for five minutes and then give the dress back and you don’t have to keep it. I wear, like, the same jeans every day. It’s disgusting. They’re 'Rag and Bone' and I wear them literally every day. I change the tee-shirt or the sweater, depending on the season.

Q: Do you like to see your movies at a regular theater with an audience?
EMMA: I used to like to do that. Then I did this movie called 'Easy A' and now I never want to watch myself for the rest of my life for as long as I live.

Q: Why?
EMMA: Because I was on screen too much. I was like, I’m done, over it. Had too many hits of that. And then I quit.

Q: What’s next for you?
EMMA: There’s 'Gangster Squad', which is coming out January 11, 2013.  There’s another 'Spider-Man' movie coming up, as well.

Q: What was it like presenting at the Oscars? Were you nervous?
EMMA: It was fun, actually, because Ben Stiller is really funny. Have you heard of the guy? He’s really great. We got to kind of cook up that idea and then John Mulaney, who is one of the writers for 'Saturday Night Live', who’s fantastic, wrote up that script for us. Yeah, it was scary until you get out on the stage and you imagine everyone in their underwear, like you’re in a high school production, which was totally fine until I referenced Jonah. I looked at Jonah and he was sitting, literally, between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt and I was like, “You don’t look like a freshman in high school, but whatever.” It was fun. [Laughs]

Q: Do you have a favourite type of special feature you like to watch on Blu-ray or DVD?
EMMA: Bloopers. I would always watch bloopers above all else. Comedy is my life raft. I love bloopers. They’re the best.

[ Supplied Q&A | Interviewed by Harrison Pierce - “Summer Of Sony” International Press Junket Cancun, Mexico. ]