Emma Stone: 'Aloha' controversy taught her about Hollywood's history of whitewashing

Two months after the release of Cameron Crowe's Aloha and the controversy surrounding the director's decision to cast Emma Stone as an Asian-American woman, Stone herself has weighed in on the backlash.

Speaking to an Australian news outlet, Stone said she has "learned on a macro level about the insane history of whitewashing in Hollywood and how prevalent the problem truly is."

She added: "It's ignited a conversation that's very important."

Before the release of Aloha, Crowe was criticized for casting Stone as Allison Ng, an Air Force pilot whose father was half-Hawaiian and half-Chinese. Crowe said the character was based on a real-life person he had encountered.

"I have heard your words and your disappointment, and I offer you a heart-felt apology to all who felt this was an odd or misguided casting choice," Crowe wrote on his blog after the film was released.

"I am grateful for the dialogue. And from the many voices, loud and small, I have learned something very inspiring," Crowe added. "So many of us are hungry for stories with more racial diversity, more truth in representation, and I am anxious to help tell those stories in the future."

Stone, for her part, echoed those statements. "There's a lot of conversation about how we want to see people represented on screen and what we need to change as a business to reflect culture in a clearer way and not in an idealized way," Stone said, while also mentioning how often she plays a love interest to a much older man. "There are some flaws in the system. My eyes have been opened in many ways this year."

For the full interview with Stone, head here.

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