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30 Oct 2025 11:18
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  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Emma Stone changed her name to Riley for six months

    The 36-year-old actress discovered early on in her career that she couldn't work in the entertainment industry under her birth name of Emily Stone because there was already someone with that moniker registered with the actors union so she picked a "beautiful" stage name which she used for six months


    During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Emma explained: "I actually adopted a stage name for, I would say, like six months. Because the Screen Actors Guild, it's like the Business Bureau. You can only have one person with that name.

    "I was 16, and I decided I wanted to be Riley for like six months. So I was Riley Stone, which is a beautiful name."

    However, Emma admits she struggled to get used to being called Riley when she was working.

    She added: "I did an episode, like a guest part, on Malcolm in the Middle, and they kept going like: 'Riley! Riley!' And I had no idea who they were talking to. Truly. And I was like: 'I cannot be Riley.' Like, it's such a ... It came out of nowhere. I was just like: 'Cool name. I'll just be Riley'."

    The actress then decided to switch to Emma Stone because it was sounded similar to her birth name of Emily.

    She added: "So I then changed it to 'Emma' because it's close enough to 'Emily'."

    The Oscar-winner previously admitted she would love to revert back to her real name of Emily because it can become very confusing at times,

    She told The Hollywood Reporter: "When I get to know them, people that I work with do [call me Emily]. It's just because my name was taken [by another actress].

    "Then I freaked out a couple of years ago. For some reason, I was like: 'I can't do it anymore. Just call me Emily' ... "

    When asked if she would correct a fan who called her Emily instead of Emma, the actress replied: "No. That would be so nice. I would like to be Emily."

    During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the Poor Things star previously admitted her enthusiasm for the name Emma stemmed partly from her love of Spice Girls singer Emma Bunton when she was growing up.

    Speaking in 2018, she explained: "So growing up, I was super blonde, and my real name is Emily but I wanted to be called Emma because of Baby Spice and guess what? Now I am, so that's really messed up.

    "It wasn't necessarily because of her, but yes, in second grade did I go up to the teacher on the first day and ask her to call me Emma? Yes, I did."

    © 2025 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

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