Arizona's Emma Stone, Cord Jefferson win Academy Awards

At the 96th annual Academy Awards held Sunday night, Emma Stone took home her second Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in "Poor Things" as Bella Baxter, a young woman who goes on a journey of self-discovery after being brought back to life by an eccentric scientist.

And it all started in the Valley.

"Yorgos, thank you for the gift of a lifetime in Bella Baxter," Stone said in her acceptance speech, speaking to "Poor Things" director Yorgos Lanthimos. "I am forever thankful for you."

She was born Emily Stone in Scottsdale on Nov. 6, 1988. She began her acting career at local company Valley Youth Theatre, where her first role was in "The Wind in the Willows" at the age of 10.

VYT artistic director Bobb Cooper told Teen Vogue in 2017, "I knew from a very young age that Emma had the innate ability to bring any character to life. She gives everything to each character she plays and brings truth to the story. Emma knows how to make moments magical."

Stone thanked Cooper in her acceptance speech for Best Actress when she won it in 2017 for "La La Land."


Stone now becomes one of 12 women who have won the Best Actress Academy Award twice. (Frances McDormand has won it three times, and Katharine Hepburn has a record four statuettes in that category.)

Stone also thanked the cast and crew of "Poor Things," which took home Oscars in the categories of Production Design, Costume Design and Makeup & Hairstyling.

"Yorgos said to me, 'Please take yourself out of it,' and he was right, because it's not about me. It's about a team that came together to make something greater than the sum of its parts and that is the best part about making movies: It's all of us, together. And I am so deeply honored to share this with every cast member, with every crew member, with every single person who poured their love and their care and their brilliance into the making of this film."

Stone isn't the only Arizonan who took home an award on Sunday night.

Cord Jefferson, a native of Tucson, won Best Adapted Screenplay for "American Fiction," which he also directed. Based on the 2001 novel "Erasure" by Percival Everett, "American Fiction" stars Jeffrey Wright as a novelist who finds himself in a dilemma when he writes a book satirizing stereotypical "Black" books and it turns into a financial and critical success.

Jefferson is a journalist turned first-time director, and he used his acceptance speech time to advocate for changes in how films are greenlit.

"I’ve been talking a lot about how many people passed on this movie in discussing it, and I worry that sometimes that sounds vindictive. I don’t want to be vindictive. I'm not a vindictive person anymore, I’ve worked very hard not to be vindictive anymore.

He continued, "It’s more a plea, a plea to acknowledge and recognize that there are so many people out there who want the opportunity that I was given. I understand that this is a risk-averse industry — I get it. But $200 million movies are also a risk, you know, and it doesn’t always work out. But you take the risk anyway.

"Instead of making one $200 million movie, try making 20 $10 million movies, or 50 $4 million movies."

For the full list of 2024 Academy Award winners, visit the Oscars website.