Emma Stone admits ‘Cruella’ is missing character’s signature accessory

Actor Emma Stone poses at the BAFTA Los Angeles Awards Season Tea Party in Los Angeles, California, 7 January 2017.Reuters

Hollywood actor Emma Stone, who plays Cruella de Vil in the newly released Disney live-action film ‘Cruella’, recently revealed that her rendition of the character is missing one of its signature accessories in the film.

According to People magazine, recently during an interview with a news outlet, the 32-year-old Oscar winner said that it was difficult not to have Cruella’s iconic cigarette holder in her hand while filming. Laughing, Stone told the publication, “That is not allowed in 2021. We are not allowed to smoke onscreen in a Disney film.”

Disney’s then-CEO, Robert A. Iger, announced during a 2015 shareholder meeting that Walt Disney Studios would “prohibit smoking in movies across the board: Marvel, Lucas, Pixar and Disney films,” with the exception of some historical figures.

While Stone was excited to have that green plume of smoke in there, as shown in the animated introduction to Cruella in 1961’s ‘101 Dalmatians’, she still had to abide by the new rules.

Joking about her character, she said, “I don’t want to promote smoking, but I’m also not trying to promote skinning puppies.”

Coming from the ‘I, Tonya’ director Craig Gillespie, ‘Cruella’ reimagines Disney’s iconic villain in the long-awaited prequel to ‘101 Dalmatians’, following the origin story of Cruella de Vil.

Stone is the second actor to take on the role of de Vil for the big screen after Glenn Close played her in the 1996 ‘101 Dalmatians’ adaptation and its 2000 sequel ‘102 Dalmatians’.

The highly anticipated performance from Stone in ‘Cruella’ is now playing in theaters globally and is available on Disney+ via paid Premier Access. The movie will be coming to all Disney+ subscribers on 27 August.