Emma Stone Wins Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival

Former Cabaret star and Broadway favorite Emma Stone picked up a Best Actress Award today at the Venice Film Festival for her performance as Mia, a struggling actress, in the Damien Chapelle-directed film, La La Land, which is the star's latest outing with frequent onscreen partner, Ryan Gosling. The film, which features music by Broadway composing team Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, tells the story of a couple facing the challenges and triumphs that life throws at artists trying to make it in Los Angeles. This award bodes well for Stone's chances at an Oscar nomination in the upcoming awards season; previous actors who followed the same trajectory include Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Colin Firth, Cate Blanchett, and Imelda Staunton.

Stone made her feature film debut in Superbad (2007). She co-starred in The House Bunny (2008), Zombieland (2009), and Paper Man (2009). In 2010, Stone made her leading debut in Easy A, for which she received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Musical or Comedy. Stone's other films include Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011), The Help (2011) The Amazing Spider-Man film series (2012, 2014) as Gwen Stacy, and the animated film The Croods (2013).

In 2014, Stone co-starred in Woody Allen's Magic in the Moonlight and Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). Her performance in Birdman earned her nominations for the SAG, Golden Globe, BAFTA andAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress. On November 11, 2014, she made her Broadway debut as Sally Bowles in Cabaret, which she performed until February 15, 2015.