Emma Stone is undeniably one of the leading actors of her generation. She has two Best Actress Oscars under her belt for La La Land and Poor Things, seamlessly transitions between populist blockbusters and niche prestige films, and has established rapport with some of the world’s best filmmakers, namely Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite, Poor Things). Yet Stone is still often mistaken for another notable star.
Stone’s exciting new film (with no confirmed new projects on the horizon) is Bugonia, marking another collaboration with Lanthimos as director. The dark comedy follows a pharmaceutical company CEO (Stone) who is kidnapped by a pair of conspiracy theorists (Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis) who believe that she is an alien. Bugonia debuted with a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score, setting it up as a critical hit.
With Bugonia‘s wide release just a couple of weeks out, Stone and Plemons appeared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast on October 20, interviewed by Josh Horowitz. Here, Stone commented: “I do get called Emma Watson all the time. All the time.” Horowitz then quipped: “You were great in Harry Potter.“
While this came up during a general discussion about interacting with fans, later during the podcast, Horowitz specifically asked the two stars the last actor they were mistaken for, allowing Stone to emphasize: “It’s always Emma Watson.” Best known for playing Hermione Granger across the eight Harry Potter films, Watson and Stone’s primary commonalities are their first name and being close to the same age.
However, Stone and Watson also have an interesting history of being up for the same roles. Watson was meant to take on the lead role in La La Land, but left the project because of scheduling conflicts with the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. Stone was also first cast as Meg in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women remake, but dropped out, allowing the role to go to Watson.
Furthermore, Stone’s co-star Ryan Gosling reportedly passed on Beauty and the Beast in order to make La La Land. These movies all led to major successes for their stars: La La Land earned a Best Picture nomination and enabled Stone to win her first Oscar, while Beauty and the Beast grossed over $1 billion worldwide. Watson then got to appear in a Best Picture nominee with Little Women.
This was while Stone was cementing herself as a regular awards season contender with additional critically acclaimed pictures. She may again be a Best Lead Actress nominee in 2026 for Bugonia. Meanwhile, Emma Watson has since gone on an acting hiatus; though she has not officially retired, 2018’s Little Women was her last film.
Emma Stone and Emma Watson are seemingly mostly confused with each other because of their first names, though they have established themselves as distinct stars. Yet as Watson focuses on other things and Stone debuts Bugonia in theaters on October 31, the latter may eventually eclipse the former in the public consciousness.
Unexpected Team-Up: Prince William and Emma Watson Unite for Change
Prince William had plenty to celebrate this weekend, but his latest public appearance quickly turned heads for a very different reason. After marking his 44th birthday and Father's Day with his family, the future king returned to royal duties—and made a surprisingly personal confession about the emotional toll of climate change.
William joined Hollywood stars Emma Watson and Benedict Cumberbatch at a United for Wildlife forum in London, an initiative he launched with the Royal Foundation in 2013. The organization works around the world to combat wildlife trafficking, environmental crime, and the destruction of endangered species.
But it was William's candid admission about his own fears that stole the spotlight.
The Prince of Wales revealed that climate change has caused him "sleepless nights," admitting he has struggled with anxiety about what the future could look like. Yet instead of allowing those fears to overwhelm him, William said seeing real progress through conservation efforts has helped keep his environmental anxiety under control.
He also delivered a powerful message to business leaders, urging them to become the kind of leaders they admired when they were children. With technology and innovation transforming the world at an incredible pace, William challenged CEOs to use their influence to create meaningful change.
The event launched London Climate Action Week, with more royal appearances expected, including the Earthshot Prize assembly.
Emma Watson also delivered a surprising revelation of her own. The Harry Potter star highlighted the fashion industry's enormous environmental impact, pointing out that it produces more emissions than aviation and ranks behind only oil among major polluting industries.
Watson, who is also pursuing a doctorate in philosophy at Oxford, shared a hilarious story about mistakenly believing paparazzi were following her. After spotting photographers with telephoto lenses, she arranged a distraction and escaped through another exit. The twist? They weren't photographing her at all. They were waiting to capture a red kite.
Meanwhile, Benedict Cumberbatch praised William as "a great guy" and urged businesses and individuals to recognize that they can still make a difference, even when global environmental challenges appear overwhelming.
With William, Watson, and Cumberbatch joining forces on the issue, the London forum delivered a clear message: the fight against environmental destruction is becoming impossible for the world's biggest names to ignore.
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