By Gill Pringle
The scene after the Battle of the Sexes where you’re in the locker room crying, there were a couple of things going on in your mind, obviously not being able to be the person you wanted to be in public, and also the example of being a role model for women. When you saw the film Billie, how did you react to that scene, and Emma, how was it playing Billie Jean at that moment of that scene?
Billie Jean: It was so touching when I saw it, Emma captured it better than I could even comprehend. It was so authentic with what was in my heart.
Emma Stone: I was thinking about that moments in all of her scenes of the film, because she has such strength and everything is just under the surface, you have to earn that moment. She was on four hours sleep every night, you cant sit in the overwhelming moment like that after winning and not feel something.
What about the tennis – did you find that the hardest part about this film?
ES: I’ve never really played tennis, I did have a lot of lessons but I wouldn’t say that I am any good. I had an incredible professional double for the film called Kaitlyn Christian who was phenomenal, and also had a great coach. I also had Billie Jean throwing balls at me and letting me mirror her. A massive team of support to get me through that element surrounded me. If this had have been the Billie Jean Tennis Movie I would never have gotten the part. We figured out a way of making me look like the world’s number one tennis player in three months. It came down to the choreography and camera shots”.
20th Century Fox is donating 79 cents per ticket sold on the US grand opening weekend to the Women’s Sport Institute. How does that make you feel?
BJK: “So meaningful, I must say that its been an absolute joy working with 20th Century Fox. There is obviously something that needs to stop with the pay gap but now that you mention the women’s institute, so it really does mean a lot for that donation”.
Emma, I read that you had put on some muscle for the film and changed your physique quite dramatically. Did that affect your performance?
ES: It was amazing, I had never been an athlete before, nor had I ever been athletic. I danced, obviously, but that’s different to being a weightlifting tennis player. I felt so empowered. Billie Jean was always a social activist. She also realised that she was great at tennis, so this was going to be a great platform for her if she could be the best. Physical strength meant that you could have the strength out in the world to get these issues across.
It’s always great to hear Elton John’s music in a soundtrack and obviously [Billie] and Elton have been friends for years, and he has been very supportive of this movie. Can you just tell us a little bit about that?
BJK: I met Elton two weeks before I played Bobby Riggs in Los Angeles, we were both very shy, so someone came over and told me that he wanted to meet me. So we met each other and we were off and running. We were in the car on the way to a concert and he said ‘ill write a song for you’, so he called it Philadelphia Freedom. It became number 1 and crossed over to the RnB charts which made him so happy. ‘Rocket Man’ which is in the film, is my brother’s favorite so that made me really happy. It really fit the scene.
Billie Jean, what was harder to learn; tennis or dancing?
BJK: You’re kidding right? My parents loved dancing. Its all about movement, I love movement, you can shape time and space. Perhaps I would have never pursued tennis if I was dancing.
