Aahana Swrup
The Yorgos Lanthimos sci-fi directorial film ‘Bugonia’ presents an intriguing premise that keeps the audience on their toes. The story revolves around Teddy, an alien conspiracy fanatic who believes that an extraterrestrial group, the Andromedans, has been living among humans, sporting a plan of massive species-wide destruction. He also believes that he has identified one of their kind, Michelle Fuller, an influential and powerful biomedical CEO. Thus, with the help of his cousin, Don, Teddy ends up kidnapping the businesswoman, keeping her hostage in his basement, convinced that she can help him get in contact with their Emperor. As a part of holding her hostage, the conspiracy theorist takes some precautionary measures to ensure he can “dampen” Michelle’s otherworldly powers and strengths. This includes lathering her up in antihistamine cream and shaving off her hair. As a result, Emma Stone’s character, Michelle, spends most of the film sporting a bald look.
Emma Stone Had to go Bald to Step Into Michelle Fuller’s Character
Actress Emma Stone reportedly realized she would have to shave her head for ‘Bugonia’ early on during the project’s development. In the film, Michelle Fuller’s character gets kidnapped by a pair of conspiracy theorist cousins, Teddy and Don, who believe her to be an extraterrestrial alien. Furthermore, through whatever dubious research, Teddy has concluded that so-called aliens like the biomedical CEO use their hair to contact the mothership. For the same reason, shortly after abducting her from her house, he compels Don to shave off all of her hair. This display of complete faith in their conspiracies and their willingness to follow through on them becomes a significantly telling moment for both characters.
Thus, given the moment’s significance in the overall story, Stone realized when she read through the script that she would have to go bald for the role. Although the actress rose to the challenge, she also had one condition in place: she wanted director and longtime collaborator Yorgos Lanthimos to shave his head alongside hers in a show of solidarity. After the filmmaker agreed to the condition, Stone took a buzzer to Lanthimos’ hair herself. Even so, when the day of filming rolled around for the scene where her hair would be shaved off on camera, Stone experienced some cold feet. Nonetheless, the director was able to talk her through the process and mitigate her concerns.
Emma Stone’s Relationships With Her Mother and Her Daughter Had an Impact on Her Drastic Hair Transformation
Notably, one of the things that helped Emma Stone go through with the hair transformation was her mother. The actress’ mother, Krista Stone, was diagnosed in 2008 with triple-negative breast cancer. As a result, she had shaved her head due to her chemotherapy treatment. In an NYC post-screening Q&A, Stone elaborated on how this influenced her own decisions and said, “She (Krista Stone) did something legitimately hard, and she lost her hair. And the first thing she said was, I am so jealous, I want to shave my head again.” The actress further added, “And I was like, I’m shaving my head because I get to do what I love, and my mom was there with me, and I was like, what a gift! It’s hair. So it was actually one of the greatest experiences of my life, very freeing, and it’s just hair. I thought it would be longer by now, but it’s just hair!”
However, while the decision to shave her head itself came quite naturally, Stone found herself having to do some preliminary preparations. Since the film takes place over the course of a few days, the actress had to sustain her shaved head rather than undergoing a one-time shave. This meant hair and makeup designer Torsten Witte and his team had to shave Stone’s head every three days during the shoot. As a result, it was necessary for the actress to keep the bald look for a few months. Therefore, she had to have a prior conversation with her 4-year-old daughter, Louise Jean, about the visual and aesthetic transformation she would be undergoing.
Stone shared how the conversation between her and her daughter went in an interview with USA Today, and said, “I just said, I’m going to shave my head. I’m going to take my hair off, and it’s going to grow back. Isn’t that so silly and fun? We can do whatever we want with our hair! It can change all the time. She’s (Stone’s daughter) like, OK, and then was totally cool.” Ultimately, her decision to commit to the hair transformation in real life brings a certain visual authenticity to Michell’s on-screen character. Additionally, the actress, who now sports a bob cut, found the experience to be uniquely exciting and freeing in a way.
Read More: Is Bugonia Based on a True Story?
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