Emma Stone made a far-out admission while promoting her latest project at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday.
During a press conference for her new black comedy, “Bugonia,” the Oscar winner had a surprising answer when questioned about one of the film’s central themes: aliens.
In the film, her fifth collaboration with director Yorgos Lanthimos, she plays a CEO who is kidnapped by an employee who believes she is an extraterrestrial set on destroying the earth.
Asked if she thought there was an “ultimate intelligence looking down on us” from somewhere beyond our planet, Stone cited the work of late astronomer and science philosopher Carl Sagan.
“I don’t know about looking down on us, but … one of my favorite people who has ever lived is Carl Sagan, and I watched his show ‘Cosmos,’ and I fell madly in love with his philosophy and his science and how brilliant he seems to be,” Stone said in a clip shared by The Hollywood Reporter.
“He’d very deeply believe the idea that we are alone in this vast expanse of the universe, not that we’re being watched, but that we’re alone out here, is a pretty narcissistic thing to think,” the “Poor Things” actor went on.
“So, yes, I’m coming out and saying it: I believe in aliens,” she grinned while waving at the room.
Flipping the script a bit, Stone then wondered, “How do you know I’m not an alien?” while adding that “there’s a tricky aspect to that answer that’s probably longer than anything that anyone would want to listen to right now at a press conference for the film.”
At another point in the conversation, the star praised “Bugonia” director Lanthimos for his ability to think outside the box.
“I love the material that he’s drawn to and the worlds he wants to explore, and the characters that he’s been generous enough to let me try my hand at,” she said.
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It seems the crowd in Venice agreed: The film received a six-minute standing ovation following its Thursday night premiere at the festival.
“Bugonia” comes out in theaters Oct. 31.
