By Danielle Broadway
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Emma Stone was proud to say she did not break any bones while filming the absurdist comedy sci-fi film “Bugonia.”
“I’ve broken a lot of bones,” she told Reuters, recalling how she felt nervous when it was time for co-star Jesse Plemons to tackle her for his role as Teddy Gatz, a conspiracy-theory-obsessed beekeeper.
“He was completely safe and did an incredible job. I broke no bones,” she said.
In “Bugonia,” Stone plays a powerful pharmaceutical CEO named Michelle Fuller, who is kidnapped by two conspiracy theorist cousins who are convinced she is an alien.
The film is based on the 2003 South Korean film called “Save the Green Planet!” written and directed by Jang Joon-hwan, and arrives in select theaters on Friday and then across the U.S. on October 31.
Plemons portrays Gatz while rising actor Aidan Delbis plays his cousin named Don.
Both the real-life Delbis and his fictional character Don are on the autism spectrum, adding representation to the big-name Hollywood film distributed by Focus Features.
“That character felt different and felt that he had a different sensibility and a different view of the world, and he was very sensitive,” director Yorgos Lanthimos said about the character Don.
“So, I thought that a neurodivergent person would be perfect for this kind of role,” he added.
For Lanthimos, Delbis’ role, which was the actor’s feature film debut, served as “the soul of the film” as well as “the voice of logic” that resonates throughout the movie.
Stone also felt the story presented complex characters, particularly highlighting the tension between Fuller and Gatz.
“It’s just so fun to not know whose side you’re on back and forth throughout the entire story, who’s in the right, who’s in the wrong, and they’re both kind of right, and they’re both pretty wrong,” Stone said.
(Reporting by Danielle Broadway and Rollo Ross; Editing by Chris Reese)
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