Emma Stone on the life lessons she learned turning 30

The Favourite actor explains that growing older has been a ‘bittersweet’ experience

Emma Stone has discussed the life lessons she’s learned at 30 and revealed that she initially felt “gloomy” about the prospect of reaching the milestone.

The Oscar-winning actor is on the cover of the February issue of British Vogue following the release of period comedy-drama The Favourite, also starring Olivia Colman and Rachel Weisz.

Stone discusses how growing older has been a “bittersweet” experience and explains how she took a year off from working entirely to come to terms with a hectic decade spent in Hollywood.

“I got gloomy for about a week,” she tells British Vogue about her birthday on 6 November this year.

“But realised the most interesting part about becoming an adult is most things become bittersweet. I’m still finding my voice.”

Photographed by Craig McDean (British Vogue)

Having spent the past decade working on money-spinning films such as La La Land, The Help and The Amazing Spider-Man, getting cinema audiences to like her has been an essential aspect of Stone’s profession.

Nonetheless, throughout her career she’s gradually learnt the importance of not feeling the need please everyone.

“It’s OK if not everybody likes you,” she says with regards to the wisdom she’s picked up over the years.

“So that was a major lesson, not falling over myself to win over the unwinnable.”

Photographed by Craig McDean (British Vogue)

Age and experience have also provided Stone with perspective, making her realise there’s no such thing as an adult who’s in complete control of their life.

“Nobody knows what they’re doing!” she says.

“We’re all just a bunch of people trying to figure out how to get through the day.”

Following her film debut in the 2007 coming-of-age comedy Superbad, Stone spent the entirety of her twenties in the public eye.

Photographed by Craig McDean (British Vogue)

She reached a point last year when she decided to take a much-needed break from work.

“I haven’t worked since last December – by the time I work again, it will have been 14 months,” she says.

“I didn’t learn a language, I didn’t learn to cook, I’ve been a little... drifty.”

Stone’s British Vogue cover was shot by fashion photographer Craig McDean.

Her most recent film, The Favourite, sees Stone and Weisz pitted against one another as they vie for the affections of Colman as Queen Anne in the early 18th Century royal court.

The Favourite is out in UK cinemas now.

See the full feature in the February 2019 issue of British Vogue, available on digital download and on newsstands Friday 4th January. www.vogue.co.uk