‘Bugonia’ Star Emma Stone Reveals the One Actress She’s Always Considered Completely “Untouchable”

Every actor has someone they measure themselves against, a performer whose range and versatility feel almost impossible to replicate. For Emma Stone, that comparison has never really been about matching an era-defining icon like Meryl Streep, the name most actors reach for when discussing the gold standard of range. Instead, Stone has spent years pointing to someone else entirely.

Known for effortlessly moving between comedy and drama across her career, Stone broke through with films like ‘Superbad’ and ‘Easy A’ before building an increasingly acclaimed résumé that includes ‘La La Land,’ ‘The Favourite,’ and ‘Poor Things.’ Throughout that journey, she has often spoken about the actors who shaped her own approach to the craft, and one name in particular has stood out above the rest.

That actress is Diane Keaton, whom Stone named all the way back in 2009 as the performer whose career she would most want to have. Speaking with Rotten Tomatoes at the time, Stone put it plainly: “She can do anything. Everyone references Meryl Streep and Meryl’s untouchable — but Diane’s really untouchable too,” she said in an interview with Rotten Tomatoes.

Keaton’s decades-long career gave Stone plenty of reason to make that comparison. She moved fluidly between comedic and dramatic work throughout her career, from ‘Annie Hall’ and ‘Father of the Bride’ to more dramatic turns in ‘The Godfather,’ ‘Reds,’ and ‘Marvin’s Room.’ That range extended even further into projects like ‘Something’s Gotta Give’ and ‘The First Wives Club,’ cementing her as one of the rare performers equally comfortable in both genres.

Her most celebrated performance remains her Oscar-winning turn in 1977’s ‘Annie Hall,’ a role written specifically with her in mind and one she embraced by leaning into the character’s flaws, many of which she recognized as her own. That win was followed by three additional Best Actress nominations, for ‘Reds,’ ‘Marvin’s Room,’ and ‘Something’s Gotta Give,’ further reinforcing just how consistently she moved between genres throughout her career.

Stone’s admiration for Keaton only deepened as their careers continued to overlap from a distance. The two never actually worked together on a film, but they did sit down for a joint cover feature in Interview Magazine back in 2015, giving Stone a chance to connect directly with the actress she had long considered a personal hero.

That admiration became especially clear following Keaton’s death on October 11, 2025, at age 79 due to pneumonia. Speaking with W Magazine for its Best Performances Issue 2026, Stone became visibly emotional discussing the loss, describing Keaton as someone who fundamentally shaped how she thinks about authenticity in her own work. “She will always be my North Star, ultimate hero, because she taught me about not wanting to emulate anyone else, including her. She taught me how valuable it is to the world to realize who you are and what you can contribute,” Stone shared in her conversation with W Magazine.

Stone went on to describe Keaton’s influence as extending well beyond acting alone, pointing to her work as a director, photographer, and even her ventures into winemaking and curating coffee table books as proof of how singularly herself Keaton remained throughout her life. According to Stone, that fearless individuality, more than any specific performance, is what ultimately made Keaton’s example so valuable.

Keaton’s passing prompted tributes from across Hollywood, and her influence was later honored during the Oscars’ In Memoriam segment, where fellow actress Rachel McAdams spoke about her enduring impact on generations of performers. For Stone specifically, that influence appears to run even deeper than admiration alone, shaping the way she approaches authenticity and originality in her own career choices.

Nearly two decades after first naming Keaton as her ultimate inspiration, Stone’s reflections make clear that admiration never faded, even as her own career grew to rival the scale of the actress she once called untouchable.

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