Emma Stone Shaves Her Head for Bugonia, Jennifer Lawrence Files a Formal Complaint

Emma Stone has a well-documented habit of treating her own body as a prop for art, and her latest sacrifice for Yorgos Lanthimos' Bugonia is a chrome-dome special. In 2025, the world learned that Stone shaved her actual head on camera for a pivotal scene, and her friend Jennifer Lawrence apparently tried to stage a hair-based intervention. Because nothing says friendship like begging a movie star not to buzz it all off for a Greek auteur.

Bugonia, which landed in theaters in 2025, is a remake of the South Korean cult oddity Save the Green Planet! The plot? Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis play conspiracy theorists who kidnap a powerful pharmaceutical CEO—Stone—because they are convinced she is an alien. It is the kind of premise that could only be improved by a bald CEO and a stolen Range Rover. Cue the unsettling sci-fi, psychological horror, and dark comedy smoothie that Lanthimos serves with a straight face.

In a Vogue interview, Stone described the head-shaving scene as 'emotional.' The kidnappers shave her in the backseat of a stolen Range Rover, which sounds less like a salon appointment and more like a very aggressive carpool. Stone noted there is 'no better feeling in the world,' partly because she got to shave Lanthimos' head first. A director-actor trust exercise with clippers. She also reflected on her mother's hair loss during breast cancer treatment, remembering thinking, 'She actually did something brave. I am just shaving my head.' Her mother, delightfully, was jealous of the new look. Family.

Jennifer Lawrence, however, was not jealous. Writing to Vogue, Lawrence confessed she 'really didn't want her to shave her head' and had 'already lived through the Billie Jean King haircut.' Fair. Lawrence did admit Stone 'looked beautiful' and 'pulled it off,' which is the friend equivalent of saying 'I told you not to, but fine, you're glowing.' Somewhere, a wig maker wept.

Behind the scenes, Jesse Plemons reportedly had the most reasonable reaction: 'Here we go—Emily has shaved her head. We better make this good.' A statement that captures the Lanthimos filmmaking ethos: commitment first, comfort later, coherence maybe. Bugonia marks Stone's fourth collaboration with Lanthimos, following The Favourite, Poor Things, and Kinds of Kindness. The partnership has produced Oscar wins and baffled relatives, so the head-shaving is practically a loyalty card stamp.

For those keeping score, Bugonia blends genres like a smoothie made by a mad scientist. Let us tabulate the essentials:

Watching this in 2026, the scene already feels like one of those 'where were you when Emma Stone went bald' moments. Poor Things proved that Stone and Lanthimos can turn weirdness into awards-season gold, and Bugonia seems determined to push the weirdness dial further. Stone's willingness to shave her head on camera is not just a stunt; it is the kind of vulnerability that makes an audience lean in, if only to check that the clippers are real. The film's mix of sci-fi, psychological horror, and dark comedy is classic Lanthimos, which is to say it will probably be brilliant, baffling, and a little bit mean.

So yes, Jennifer Lawrence tried to talk her out of it. Stone did it anyway. Her mother was jealous. Plemons delivered a line that should be printed on the back of the director's chair. And somewhere in the annals of 2025 cinema, a bald pharmaceutical CEO became the year's most committed performance. If that is not art, it is at least a very memorable haircut. 🪒👽🎬