Australian Oscar nominee Tony McNamara has revealed actress Emma Stone was among the first to see his script for the Golden Globe-winning film Poor Things.
The screenwriter, who also scored a BAFTA nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, revealed to 9Honey Celebrity that the Hollywood star became involved in the fantastical film around the same time he did.
“I’d been working on The Favourite with Yorgos [Lanthimos] and then he tossed the book to me and went ‘Do you like it? Do you want to do it?’ and then I decided to, and then Emma came on,” McNamara recalled to 9Honey Celebrity on the BAFTA Awards red carpet at London’s Royal Festival Hall.
Watch the video above.
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“I think I’d written the first draft. He [Lanthimos] told her the story while we were shooting The Favourite, and she liked it and then she was the first person to see the script after that.
“From then on, I knew it was Emma … [which made it] easier in the sense that I knew it would be just great.”
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Poor Things is a gothic comedy which riffs off of Frankenstein and tells the tale of a young woman brought back to life by a scientist who gives her the brain of a child in an experiment.
McNamara has already taken home an AACTA International Award for his work on the movie, which also won The Venice Film Festival’s prestigious Golden Lion award in September.
The 57-year-old told 9Honey Celebrity the writing process took him three years but knowing the actress was taking on the role helped him, as he could “hear what it should sound like in my head and I just know she’s doing it, so I feel confident”.
And it seems the feeling is mutual.
Stone, who served as a producer on the project as well as it’s lead star, thanked McNamara as she picked up the BAFTA for Best Leading Actress for her turn as Bella Baxter.
“Tony, thank you for the line ‘I must go punch that baby.’ It was life-changing for me,” the 35-year-old said on stage, after beating out Australia’s Margot Robbie who was nominated in the category for her role in Barbie.
“This was the first film that I’ve produced alongside of acting, and so it feels like doubly meaningful,” Stone added of her win during a backstage press conference.
Of their 11 nominations, Poor Things took home five BAFTAs in the end, including in the production design, hair & make up, costume and visual effects categories.
The film is again up for 11 awards at next month’s Academy Awards with McNamara again nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.
McNamara also scored an Oscar nomination for his last collaboration with Lanthimos and Stone – The Favourite – back in 2019.
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And while it’s not his first Awards Season, the Victorian tells 9Honey Celebrity he’s still surprised by one thing all these years later.
“How tiring it is,” McNamara laughs.
“I mean, it’s fine, but it’s kind of exhausting. Also I’m a writer, I’m not used to a lot of people, so it’s probably extra exhausting.”
Another Aussie having a stellar awards season is actress Sophie Wilde, who was also a BAFTA nominee – up for the EE Rising Star Award alongside fellow Australian actor, Jacob Elordi.
Having recently taken home the AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her role in horror film Talk to Me, the Boy Swallows Universe star told 9Honey Celebrity it’s all been “so surreal”.
“I’m so severely jet lagged, I literally was in Australia like two days ago but it’s just feels … it’s just amazing,” Wilde said on the BAFTA red carpet.
“The AACTAs was insane and being here at the BAFTAs is equally as insane.”
Making things more surreal for the 26-year-old Aussie, who has just finished filming the thriller Babygirl alongside Nicole Kidman, was a meeting with Prince William backstage at the Royal Festival Hall.
The Prince of Wales met with four of the rising star nominees following the ceremony but the real star that Wilde was most eager to meet was Margot Robbie.
“I need to meet her – Barbie Part 2, I’m ready!”