Emma Stone opens up about the stage name she used before finding fame

Emma Stone once went by the name Riley for about six months.

The 36-year-old actress learned early in her career that she couldn’t use her real name, Emma Stone, in the entertainment industry because another person with that name was already registered with the Screen Actors Guild.

As a result, she chose a “beautiful” stage name to use temporarily.

During her appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Stone shared, “I actually adopted a stage name for, I would say, like six months.

Because the Screen Actors Guild, it’s like the Business Bureau. You can only have one person with that name.”

The Poor Things star continued, “I was 16, and I decided I wanted to be Riley for like six months. So, I was Riley Stone, which is a beautiful name.”

However, Stone admitted that she found it difficult to respond to the name while working.

She explained, “I did an episode, like a guest part on Malcolm in the Middle and they kept going like: ‘Riley! Riley!’ And I had no idea who they were talking to. Truly. And I was like: ‘I cannot be Riley.' Like, it’s such a … It came out of nowhere. I was just like: 'Cool name. I’ll just be Riley.'”

Eventually, she decided to change her stage name to Emma Stone because it sounded similar to her birth name, Emily.

Emma Stone concluded, “So, I then changed it to ‘Emma' because it’s close enough to ‘Emily.’”