At the Academy Awards, each Best Picture-nominated film gets its moment in the spotlight with a montage. However, after the clip for ‘Poor Things’ aired, host Jimmy Kimmel cracked a joke that seemed to rub star Emma Stone the wrong way.
“Those were all the parts of ‘Poor Things’ that we’re allowed to show on TV,” Kimmel quipped after the montage, seemingly referring to the uninhibited s*x scenes involving Stone’s character, Bella Baxter, in the Oscar-winning film.
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Stone glanced at her husband Dave McCary, rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly while muttering a few words. Many online viewers speculated that she might have said “Oh my god” or “He’s a pri*k.”
“[The s*x] is obviously a huge part of her experience and her growth, as it is, I think, for most people in life,” Stone discussed her character’s journey on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row in January. “So for the camera to sort of shy away from that, or to say like, ‘Okay, well, we’ll just cut all of this out because our society functions in a particular way’ … it felt like a lack of being honest about who Bella is.”
At the New York Film Festival in September, director Yorgos Lanthimos elaborated on why he didn’t “shy away” from the film’s sexual content. “It was a very important part of her journey. We felt that we shouldn’t shy away from it,” he explained. “It would feel very disingenuous to tell this story about this character who is so free and so open, and then be prude about the sexual aspect of it.”
Despite the awkward moment, ‘Poor Things’ emerged as a big winner, with Stone clinching the ‘Best Actress’ award. Additionally, the film bagged additional Academy Awards for ‘Best Makeup and Hairstyling,’ ‘Best Costume Design’ and ‘Best Production Design.’
This marks Stone’s second ‘Best Actress’ Academy Award, following her win for ‘La La Land’ back in 2017.