'It was a sprint': Emma Stone recalls 'garbage' advice from sexist studio exec about being a woman in Hollywood

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Emma Stone is hitting back at a piece of sexist advice that she received early in her career from a Hollywood executive.

On Thursday, January 4, as Stone received the 2024 Palm Springs International Film Awards' Desert Palm Achievement Award for her performance in 'Poor Things', she recalled a dated piece of advice she received.

Emma Stone was told for women in Hollywood ‘it was a sprint’

As the 35-year-old actress received the award from her two co-stars of ‘Poor Things’, Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe, Stone recalled that when she was just starting her career in Hollywood, a Hollywood executive indirectly told her that a Hollywood actress’ career is short-lived.

Stone recounted, "When I first moved to LA, I went to one of those general meetings that they sometimes send you to, and an executive told me that for male actors, it's a marathon, not a sprint," per People.

"And in his eyes, for women, it was a sprint, not a marathon. And that was 20 years ago,” said the ‘La La Land’ actress.

The ‘Cruella’ star further continued, "And I realize that advice is total garbage because the majority of the women that I look up to in this industry, many of whom are in this room, have proven that as time goes on, life and work only get more interesting and more fulfilling.”

Emma Stone speaks about blatant sexism

This is not the first time that Emma Stone spoke about the blatant sexism in Hollywood. During an interview with Rolling Stone in 2016, she opened up about the different treatment that Hollywood's women actors often tend to get.

The Academy Award-winning actress said, "There are times in the past, making a movie, when I've been told that I’m hindering the process by bringing up an opinion or an idea."

She went on to continue, “I hesitate to make it about being a woman, but there have been times when I've improvised."

She further shared that there have been instances when her jokes have been given to her male co-stars as she went on to say, "They've laughed at my joke and then given it to my male co-star. Given my joke away."

She continued, "Or it’s been me saying, ‘I really don’t think this line is gonna work,’ and being told, ‘Just say it, just say it, if it doesn’t work we’ll cut it out’—and they didn’t cut it out, and it really didn’t work!”