The ‘Saturday Night Live’ star Emma Stone called her “ultimate hero”
Despite having established herself as an actor with a considerable amount of range to her performances in recent years, the start of Emma Stone’s career was largely characterised by her appearances in comedy films that didn’t truly see her live up to her maximum potential.
Some performers are, of course, comfortable with staying in this realm throughout their careers, but Stone has always seemingly fluctuated to and fro in her relationship with comedy, only choosing to pursue roles that have their comedic elements as a secondary feature rather than aiming for out and out laughs. This has led to her taking on a greater range of roles, but that doesn’t mean that she’s completely done with the world of comedy.
In the past, she’s also hosted Saturday Night Live on a total of five occasions, which is something that has not only seen her flex her comedic talents, but helped her to experience something that was always a childhood dream of hers when she was first being introduced to acting.
While appearing on an episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in 2025, the discussion turned towards her love of Saturday Night Live, where she ended up praising her parents for having raised her on the show and introducing her to some of her biggest inspirations in the world of comedy.
Speaking about her mother’s taste in particular, Stone stated that not only was SNL something that she was exposed to from a young age, but that it had always been a considerable part of her mother’s life as well. “She was 15 in 1975 when SNL first aired, and she would watch it with her family,” Stone told Colbert. “She introduced me, not to the person, but to the star that was Gilda Radner, who is still my absolute hero. So yes, she was integral in that kind of world of SNL.”
While she went on to praise her father for also introducing her to the likes of Steve Martin and Bill Murray, it was Radner who seemed to have the largest effect on Stone’s perception of comedy, and after naming some of her iconic characters that appeared on the show, including Roseanne Roseannadanna and Emily Litella.
Known for her outlandish performances, Radner was one of the original cast members on the show, and was remarkable for her commitment to portraying a range of characters, no matter how strange they might have seemed to be.
This is the sort of commitment that Stone has evidently managed to put into her own performances, whether comedic or not, and so from this perspective, you can understand why someone like Radner would have been such a pivotal figure for her to have been brought up watching.
Stone continued in her interview with Colbert by stating that “SNL is my absolute favourite place in the entire world,” and given her adoration of the cast members she recalls watching from a young age, it’s hardly surprising that she ended up being such a tour de force on the show herself.
