Emma Stone’s love of trash TV: ‘Naked Attraction is the best show I’ve ever seen’
Emma Stone knows a thing or two about quality. In 2023, aged just 34, she won her second ‘Best Actor’ Oscar for her role in Poor Things, adding to the one she had earned seven years earlier for La La Land. Her highest-grossing movies include the two ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ films, The Help, and Superbad. With even more exciting projects on the way, who knows just how much success she’ll have accrued by the time she finally steps away from acting.
It isn’t just on the big screen that Stone has proven her worth, either. Her first major role was in a reboot of The Partridge Family and she has since returned to TV with series like Maniac, The Curse, and even an episode of iCarly. She’s a member of the illustrious ‘Five-Timer Club’, meaning she has hosted Saturday Night Live at least five times. SNL is actually where she met her husband, Dave McCary, who was a segment director and writer on the show. The two now run their production company, Fruit Tree, which has contributed to films like I Saw the TV Glow and A Real Pain.
With a history like this, you might imagine that some of Stone’s favourite TV shows rank up there with the best of all time. The Sopranos? The Wire? Game of Thrones? She was in an episode of 30 Rock in 2012, so maybe it’s that? Nope. As it turns out, the star is a fan of reality TV, specifically British reality TV.
“I spend a good amount of time in England and I am truly obsessed with… about four shows,” she told Elle. She explained that, while filming Cruella in London, she discovered this wonderful world. Alongside The Great British Bake-Off and Googlebox, one particularly risque show stood out.
“Naked Attraction is, I think, the best show I’ve ever seen,” she said. “I actually saw it accidentally when I was in France one time. At like 11 o’clock at night I was like, ‘what is this?’ And then I realised that it was in the UK. And then when living there I watched Naked Attraction all the time, all the time. It’s so good.”
For those uneducated on trash TV, Naked Attraction is a reality dating show with a very simple twist. The contestants are in large pods which slowly reveal their bodies bit by bit. The twist is that they are completely naked. The person making the choice is clothed (until the end), but must pick their potential partner based solely on physical attraction. The idea is that it’s a dating show ‘in reverse’, but it’s mainly an excuse to show various sexy bits on TV.
Stone is no stranger to getting her kit off herself. She insisted on having a nude scene in the film The Favourite, and has gone on to appear in the buff in Poor Things and Kinds of Kindness. Basically, if she’s working with Yorgos Lanthimos, she’s going to get naked. For artistic reasons, of course. Minds out of the gutter.
For both Cruella and Poor Things, Stone adopted a very convincing English accent. Apparently, consuming so much British TV helped her slip into this voice. “Nadia Stacey who does hair and make up… she always makes me do Gemma [Collins] from The Only Way Is Essex,” she divulged. “Love Gemma”.
