Emma Stone says Gwen Stacy is no 'damsel in distress'

NEW YORK, May 8 (UPI) -- Emma Stone says Gwen Stacy, the comic-book character she plays on the big screen, exemplifies courage because she confronts villains, even though she has no super powers like her do-gooding love interest, Peter Parker/Spider-Man.

"I love that," the 25-year-old Arizona native told UPI in a recent roundtable interview with reporters in New York to promote The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

"We ended up re-shooting that part in the end where she is saying, 'This is my choice; this is what I want.' She, in that moment, becomes the very opposite of a damsel in distress," Stone declared, referring to an action-packed scene in which Gwen and Spider-Man, played by Andrew Garfield, try to save New York City from the nefarious Green Goblin and Electro, played respectively by Dane DeHaan and Jamie Foxx.

"She has helped Peter so many times before," the actress noted. "She helped him in the first movie with the serum. Everyone's evacuating the building and she decides to stay behind. She was raised by the chief of police. So, I think she has this heroic impulse to serve something greater than herself in the same way Peter does. I think that's why she understands Peter and is so insanely frustrated that he won't just accept she's OK with him being Spider-Man. She doesn't need to be protected. Ultimately, that gets her in a little bit of a sticky situation."

"To me, this turns [the notion of] traditional super-hero damsel on its ear," added producer Matt Tolmach, who was sitting beside Stone. "She is the one calling the shots in the movie. She is the one with an actual plan. She is the one with genuine conviction and he is chasing a little bit. And I love that. That's empowering and it's an interpretation of the comic book."

The second installment in director Marc Webb's re-boot of the film franchise finds Gwen graduating as valedictorian of her high school, then working for the scientific research and development company Oscorp, while considering accepting a scholarship to England's Oxford University. She is also romantically involved with Peter, whose responsibilities as Spider-Man and loyalty to her late father often test their relationship.

Co-starring Chris Cooper, Sally Field, Colm Feore and Campbell Scott, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was No. 1 at the North American box office when it opened last weekend. It is rated PG-13.