Emma Stone 'glad' to have second chance at 'Cabaret'

NEW YORK, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Emma Stone is glad for the chance to portray Sally Bowles in Cabaret.

The 25-year-old actress detailed her involvement with the Broadway musical in an interview with the New York Times last week. Stone was initially slated to star in the revival in March, but chose to give up the role and was replaced by Michelle Williams.

"It was painful," she said of her decision. "I'd said goodbye to the idea of ever playing Sally on Broadway, and it upset me; it really upset me. But I think it also helped me learn about having a real work-life balance, as cliché as that sounds."

"I realized that [my] schedule would turn the dream of playing Sally into a kind of nightmare," she confessed. "It felt like forcing something that wouldn't fit. But I was telling myself I can do do this, and everyone wanted to make it work ... But part of me also thought, 'It's going to kill me.'"

Stone completed her film commitments, and went to see Williams perform after the musical opened. She told Roundabout Theater Company artistic director Todd Haimes she was still interested in portraying Sally, and preparations began for her to take over the role.

"It was weird to think of wearing someone else's clothes," she admitted. "But this was my chance to do Cabaret with Alan [Cumming as the Emcee] and in Studio 54, and that would never happen again ... I'm just glad the chance came around again to earn my stripes as Sally."

Stone will debut as Sally Bowles in Cabaret on November 11. The actress most recently appeared alongside Michael Keaton in Birdman, and is scheduled for a new Woody Allen film and a Cameron Crowe project in 2015.