Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone Collaborate Again in “Bugonia”

A frame from the film “Bugonia”.
B&H Film Distribution Company

The Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos is known for liking both to work with the same actors and to invite new faces into his films. For example, with actress Emma Stone he has worked more than once – The Favourite, Poor Things, and now Bugonia. Here we will look at how exactly the director chose the leading actors and the actress for this new comedy.

Collaboration with Emma Stone

Working on the fifth project with the director, Emma Stone compares her collaboration with Lanthimos – both as an actress and as a producer – to a theatrical troupe.

We have great working relationships, and the team and part of the cast often stay the same: there are so many people we work with again and again, – she says. – It really feels like a family atmosphere, where you create complex things, but in a safe, comfortable and very cohesive way. It’s truly a rarity, and it’s almost impossible to recreate such conditions elsewhere

Bugonia: a strange, funny and crooked mirror of the modern world

In the case of Bugonia, she immediately saw the same thing Lanthimos did – a strange, funny, and at the same time terrifying crooked mirror of the modern world.

I sent Emma the script as soon as I read it, – Lanthimos recalls. – I trust her thoughts and instincts. My first reaction was: I like it, but is this the right choice for me and for both of us? She grabbed onto this idea instantly and helped me decide to take on the project with the whole team

Michèle’s Role and Creative Freedom

Thanks to the already established creative collaboration, Lanthimos largely left Stone the freedom to independently find Michèle’s own register – a challenging role that became a new challenge for the Oscar winner.

This is a very difficult role not only physically, as the character goes through a lot, but also because she plays a woman whom you shape a certain impression of from the very beginning, and she must constantly balance how she gradually reveals different sides of herself

Jessie Plemons: Shared Space and a New Experience

The actor Jessie Plemons in Bugonia and Don – this is kinship and a new experience for both: Plemons has long wanted to work with Lanthimos again after appearing in his 2024 film Kinds of Kindness. The director immediately sent him the script, confident that the actor would be able to give Teddy the layered depth that unfolds gradually.

There seems to be a lot more room here, because everything operates under some different rules, – he says. – It’s a process where you try to understand the tone as much as possible, and then you simply give yourself to it completely and see what happens. Yorgos creates an environment where he truly wants everyone to find their own path

The casting for Bugonia with Lanthimos demonstrates the director’s commitment to mutual creative trust and a bold approach to meeting new talent – this is how he builds his world with humor, paradoxes, and the depth of his characters.