Emma Stone: Cabaret ‘is the hardest thing I’ve ever done’

Multi-award-winning actress Emma Stone has described her experiences on Broadway as the “hardest” of her career.

While promoting her upcoming film Poor Things (released on 12 January 2024), Stone was asked whether or not she’d return to the Great White Way in the future. Mulling the question for a few moments, Stone responded: “Broadway was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Doing Cabaret. It really is the hardest thing. I thought it would’ve been easier, you know, just three hours a day, you’re not on set, you go home. But you have to live like a monk, your voice is always gone (or at least mine is, because it’s broken), and it was so frickin’ hard.”

Stone made her Broadway debut as Sally Bowles in Cabaret (pictured above) in 2014, appearing alongside Alan Cumming in Sam Mendes’ revival of the classic Kander and Ebb show.

There were positives to the experience, she confessed: “I will say, it made me fall in love with acting in a whole different way. Plus I did La La Land right after that, so I’ve looked at acting differently since I did it.”

What Stone also learnt was a profound respect for those who spend their lives on stage: “I have the most respect for theatre actors, because there is nothing more challenging.”

Cabaret will be returning to Broadway this spring, with the West End revival transferring with Eddie Redmayne and Gayle Rankin leading.

The production also continues in the West End, with more information below.