Revisiting the time Emma Stone slapped Willem Dafoe for Yorgos Lanthimos film, not once but 20 times!

In a classic piece of Hollywood lore, we're rewinding to a startling revelation in 2023, as reported by MovieWeb, about an unlikely event involving Emma Stone and the seasoned actor, Willem Dafoe, during the filming of a Yorgos Lanthimos project.

The Slap Heard Round the Set

It's not every day that you hear of an Oscar-winning actress like Emma Stone having to slap another co-star, especially when the scene doesn't even require it. But, as reported by The New York Times, for the movie AND, Dafoe, who wasn't part of the particular scene, got slapped, not just once but over 20 times, all off-camera. And the kicker? “That’s what you want from actors. To want to be part of it in any way,” acclaimed film director Lanthimos said.

The reason behind this surprising event? It was Dafoe's belief that Stone needed that interaction to truly inhabit her role. Even if it involved a few stinging cheeks, the actor was all in. Stone reflected on this experience, asserting, “There’s this instinct to perform that many actors have — the ‘look at me, look at me!’ kind of performer. He’s the opposite of that."

A Cinematic Reunion: Stone & Lanthimos

Five years after the box office hit, The Favourite, Emma Stone and director Yorgos Lanthimos rekindled their cinematic synergy for not just one, but two films - Poor Things and You. The former is an adaptation of Alasdair Gray’s 1992 novel, which showcases Stone in a macabre role of a woman resurrected using her unborn child's brain.

Though details for AND remained largely under wraps, the partnership, combined with Dafoe's unexpected involvement, left fans and critics intrigued. Emma Stone didn't stop at just acting, as she also took the producer's chair alongside Lanthimos and Andrew Love, making these films a labor of love and commitment.

The commitment and dedication shown by actors like Dafoe and Stone in their craft prove that there's a lot more happening behind the scenes than what meets the audience's eye. It's a testament to the passion, creativity, and sometimes, the occasional slap, that goes into making cinema magic.

Several parts of the text in this article, including the title, were generated with the help of an AI tool.