The actress follows Matthew McConaughey, Nicole Kidman, and more to the medium.
Emma Stone has played characters of the comic-book, cabaret, clairvoyant, and comedic variety. Now, the Oscar-nominated actress is turning to television to explore a different range of the psychological spectrum.
Deadline reports that Stone is finalizing a deal to star in Maniac, a 30-minute television series with her former Superbad castmate Jonah Hill. The project, a dark comedy, will be directed by True Detectivealum Cary Fukunaga and is based on a 2014 Norwegian series about a mental-institution patient living out a fantasy life in his dreams.
The project would not only mark Stone’s first starring television role, but another career milestone for the 27 year-old—her first television producer credit. The tagline of the Norwegian series is “everyday loser/fantasy hero,” with producer Anne Kolbjornsen describing the premise behind the original as such: “The American dream has gained its foothold in Norwegian culture. It is this issue we want to investigate. Espen [the main character], of course, takes this to an extreme, of imagining being loved by everyone around him. Every day appears like a party, and there’s no limit to what he was experiencing. But it’s simply too good to be true.”
“In real life,” she added, “he gets locked up at an institution, with a psychologist trying to win him back to reality. . .Espen has escaped into his own head and lives out his dream life there, which he shares with Hakon, his best friend. But is it really that bad? At present, he is the top. Until Mina, the new psychologist begins to needle him. And Espen must redefine what life he wants to live.”
Stone and Hill’s Maniac “will be shopped to cable and streaming networks,” according to Variety, with Deadline adding that the series players are looking for a two-season order.
Presumably, Hill will play the central character based on Espen. It is unclear what Stone would play—potentially his best friend or the therapist trying to lure him back to reality.
Take a look at the below trailer for the Norwegian original to get a sense of the series.
This is not the only reunion Stone has on her slate—she also recently reteamed with her Crazy, Stupid, Love and Gangster Squad co-star Ryan Gosling for a musical romance.
