Jesse Eisenberg has been making the rounds this awards season thanks to the incredible screenplay he wrote for “A Real Pain.” On February 22, he won again for Best Screenplay at the Independent Spirit Awards. People reported that while he thanked all the usual people, he gave an especially heartfelt message to his friend and former co-star, Emma Stone.
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While the two weren’t seated at the same table, Eisenberg stopped to hug Stone on his way to the stage when his name was announced. After thanking as many people as he could remember, he spent the last half of his speech giving sincere thanks to an emotional Stone.
“We were in Zombieland together in 2009, and since then, I write little magazine articles and things on McSweeney, and she’s like, the only person — like I’m including my mom here — who would like, take little screenshots of it over the last 15 years and send me things like, ‘This is such a funny line,’ he spoke to the crowd. “At the time, she was like, and still, the most famous person I know, and yet also the most dedicated to encouraging me as a writer.” The camera showed Stone’s reaction, and when he finished, she looked like she was about to cry.
Eisenberg Credits Stone with Saving ‘A Real Pain’
GettyJesse Eisenberg and Emma Stone“A Real Pain” has found tremendous critical acclaim since its release, with Kieran Culkin winning Best Supporting Actor awards at the Golden Globes, BAFTAs, Critics’ Choice Awards, Independent Spirit Awards, New York Film Critics Circle Awards, National Society of Film Critics Awards, and Screen Actors Guild Awards. Most think he’s destined to win the Oscar, as well. But at the Palm Springs Film Festival Q&A, Eisenberg admitted that it likely would’ve never been made without Stone’s help persuading Culkin not to drop out of the film.
“[Kieran] was trying to drop out of the movie two weeks before we were shooting,” Eisenberg recalled (via Desert Sun). “Like all the money has been spent, and he was trying to drop out in New York. So one of our producers, Emma Stone, essentially blackmailed him to come back to the movie behind my back, and literally took him off the plane with his kids and flew to Poland with him.” Eisenberg continued, “I have a video of her holding his kid’s hands going through customs like a proof of life video that he made it, and he showed up to rehearsal late, even though we had made the rehearsal around when his plane was getting in.”
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