Willem Dafoe Asked Emma Stone to Slap Him 20 Times to Make Movie Scene ‘More Genuine’

Willem Dafoe asked Emma Stone to slap him 20 times off-camera in an effort to make a scene in their upcoming  movie be more authentic.

In a new profile with The New York Times, the two share a scene in Yorgos Lanthimos’ anthology film And in which Stone’s character slaps Dafoe across the face. Although the slap was set to take place off camera, the veteran actor wanted it to be as realistic as possible, so he got Stone to actually slap him. “There’s this instinct to perform that many actors have—the ‘look at me, look at me!’ kind of performer,” said Stone, who confirmed that she hit him at least 20 times. “He’s the opposite of that.”

Stone noted that Dafoe, 67, really enjoyed his time on the set of And. “That’s what you want from actors,” added Lanthimos. “To want to be part of it in any way.”

And is just one of the films Dafoe and Stone are starring in from Lanthimos, who previously directed the films The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and The Favourite. The two are also set to share the screen in Poor Things, which is set to hit theaters later this year. Based on the 1992 novel by Alasdair Gray, the cast also features Mark Ruffalo, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbott, Margaret Qualley, and Jerrod Carmichael, among others.

Dafoe has kept himself remarkably busy as of late, and has a total of seven projects in post-production and is currently filming Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu remake. Stone, meanwhile, is set to appear in Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie’s new comedy series, The Curse.