Emma Stone is officially 'SNL' royalty. Why a history-making night of TV was the 'greatest'

Emma Stone is having a year.

The actor from Scottsdale stars in one of the best movies of the year. She stars in one of the best TV shows of the year. And, by virtue of hosting “Saturday Night Live” on Dec. 2, she’s now a member of the show’s Five-Timers Club.

The club is reserved, as the name suggests, for people who have hosted the show five times. Other members include Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, Justin Timberlake — and Tina Fey and Candice Bergen, both of whom made a surprise (“surprise,” more like) appearance during Stone’s opening monologue to welcome her to the club.

Fey pointed out that Stone is the youngest member.

Stone is great in 'Poor Things' and 'The Curse'

Bergen, meanwhile, was credited as creating the Five-Timers Club’s women’s section. “The women’s section started out as a small, quiet place to cry,” Bergen said. “But over the years it became a big, luxurious place to cry.”

Stone probably isn’t doing a lot of crying lately. She’s getting rave reviews for “Poor Things,” Yorgos Lanthimos’ wild film about a woman who is brought back from the dead and experiences life anew. And boy, does she experience it. Stone portrays the woman in a genuinely stunning performance in a role that allows her to play everything from a toddler to an autodidact sex worker who wants to experience everything around her. Everything. The film, and Stone, are great.

She also stars, with Nathan Fielder, in “The Curse,” a 10-episode cringefest in which she plays a would-be reality-show host whose supposedly philanthropic efforts to invest in a community barely mask her efforts to paper over her parents’ slumlord reputation and her own ambition. It’s hard to watch at times, but it’s really good.

The Five Timer's Club is a testament to Emma Stone's staying power

Then there’s the Five Timer’s Club. Members get a smoking jacket and hearty congratulations. It’s both silly and an acknowledgment of someone’s lasting fame, not that Stone needs any further proof of that. She did, however, seem moved by the honor.

“This truly is one of the greatest nights of my life, easily,” Stone said at the end of “SNL” on Saturday. “So thank you thank you thank you for being here, and OK, bye, I’ll shut up.”

Let’s hope not.

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Reach Goodykoontz at [email protected]. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. X, formerly known as Twitter: @goodyk.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Emma Stone made 'SNL' history, starred in 'Poor Things,' slayed 2023