Emma Stone’s excellent performance in “Zombieland,” and the success of that film, seems to have cemented the idea that the “Superbad” actress is one of the fastest-rising young stars in Hollywood — she even made the front cover of the annual Hollywood issue of Vanity Fair, although, as Gretchen Mol will attest, that’s not always a surefire confirmation of success. The actress signed last week to play Steve Carell’s daughter in “Stupid, Crazy Love,” alongside Ryan Gosling, and she’s already lined up another project.
She’s set to take the lead role in the Dreamworks period drama “The Help,” based on Kathryn Stockett’s bestselling novel, about a recent college graduate in the 1960s who decides to write a book highlighting the plight of African-American domestic help in Mississippi. Sometime actor Tate Taylor, who previously directed the comedy “Pretty Ugly People,” will write and direct, and Chris Columbus is producing through his 1492 banner.
According to Deadline, Stone’s a particularly hot property because her upcoming comedy “Easy A” has tested through the roof. The project seems like an interesting change of pace for the actress, who’s so far stayed firmly within the comedy world, even if it sounds, on the page at least, like another patronizing, “The Blind Side”-style race relations picture. But, as certain Tea Party protesters showed over the weekend, maybe there’s still a need for them?
