Oscar-Winning Actress Makes One Demand Before On-Camera Head Shave

In Emma Stone’s newest film, Bugonia, the Oscar-winning actress was required to go bald. But she had one specific condition for the filmmakers to accommodate before she agreed to shave her head on camera.

Emma Stone, 37, is a queen of transformations. From the ambitious Abigail in The Favourite to Stone’s raven-haired role in Poor Things, the world-famous redhead is no stranger to making dramatic changes to her appearance for the sake of her characters. Still, her drastic hair-to-bare look in Bugonia marks the actress’s most drastic onscreen makeover yet.

According to People, before confirming that she would shave her head for the film, Stone told director Yorgos Lanthimos that he should join her “in solidarity.” After the director agreed to Stone’s demand, Stone made sure Lanthimos would follow through with his promise—by shaving his head herself.

Although Stone described the moment as “exciting,” she admitted it was not as exciting and dramatic as shaving her own hair. “Not to brag, but my hair was pretty long, and his was not,” Stone explained. According to People, Stone’s hair had to be shaved every three days on set to keep the look consistent.

The Bugonia adventure wasn’t the pair’s first time collaborating, with Stone and Lanthimos working together on four movies before Bugonia, including Poor Things, Kinds of Kindness, The Favourite, and Bleat.

Shaving her hair was part of a scene for the movie, which meant Stone had to get it right in one shot. According to Indiewire, the actress was scared before the big shave, explaining at a screening that she experienced cold feet until the moment they shot the scene. “It was taking a long time to set all the cameras up,” she explained. “And I just started kind of panicking about that.”

The haircut came with a personal connection for Stone. According to Indiewire, Stone’s mother had lost her hair while undergoing chemotherapy. “And I was like, I’m shaving my head because I get to do what I love,” Stone said. “And my mom was there with me, and I was like, ‘What a gift!’... So it was actually one of the greatest experiences of my life, very freeing, and it’s just hair.”

Still, the actress was surprised by the slow speed of her hair growth. “I thought it would be longer by now,” she admitted, referencing her new trendy pixie cut.

Stone’s bald head was such a big part of the movie’s buzz that one theater in Los Angeles held a free early screening intended only for bald people—or, at the very least, people willing to go bald for the sake of the showing. “A barber will be on-site starting at 6 p.m. to shave it all off,” DoLA announced on Instagram.