Born and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, Stone began acting as a child, in a theater production of The Wind in the Willows in 2000. As a teenager, she relocated to Los Angeles with her mother, and made her television debut in VH1's In Search of the New Partridge Family (2004), a reality show that produced only an unsold pilot. After small television roles, she won a Young Hollywood Award for her film debut in Superbad (2007), and received positive media attention for her role in Zombieland (2009). The 2010 teen comedy Easy A was Stone's first starring role and earned her nominations for the BAFTA Rising Star Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. This breakthrough was followed by a supporting role in the commercially successful romantic comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011), and then a co-starring role in the critically acclaimed drama The Help (2011).

Stone gained wider recognition for playing Gwen Stacy in the 2012 superhero film The Amazing Spider-Man, and its sequel in 2014. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role of a recovering drug addict in the black comedy-drama Birdman (2014). Her Broadway debut came in a revival of the musical Cabaret (2014–2015). Stone won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for playing an aspiring actress in the highly successful musical film La La Land (2016).