Bugonia Made The Decision To Gender Swap Emma Stone’s Character, And The Reasons Are Fascinating

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The upcoming film Bugonia is the fourth collaboration between Emma Stone and director Yorgos Lanthimos. However, this project only came about after a key decision was made during development. Bugonia is a remake of the 2003 Korean film Save The Green Planet!, and one of the changes made is that the villain is now a female character – played by Stone. This casting choice proved to be a significant one, impacting the story in meaningful ways, and the filmmakers had several reasons for making it.

The movie centers around two conspiracy theorists (Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis) who attempt to kidnap the CEO of a pharmaceutical company (Stone), believing she’s actually an alien. The fact that the kidnappers are men and their target is a woman significantly affects how the characters interact and how others view the situation. This introduces themes of gender dynamics and the potential for misogyny, which often appear in modern conspiracy theories. During a recent interview with screenwriter Will Tracy and director Yorgos Lanthimos, I pointed out that the male leads also decide to chemically castrate themselves, and Tracy explained how changing the gender of the victim impacted the story.

The core conflict became clear – the danger feels different when young men kidnap a young woman. However, we deliberately keep the motivations and personalities of the characters, Teddy and Don, ambiguous and open to interpretation.

Both Bugonia and Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things offer contrasting views on sexuality. In the 2023 film Poor Things, Emma Stone’s character, Bella Baxter, finds freedom and self-discovery through her sexuality, which helps her appreciate the fullness of life. However, in Bugonia, Jesse Plemons’ character, Teddy Gatz, feels controlled by his sexual desires and chooses to have himself and another character chemically castrated to avoid temptation while on a mission.

Sexuality is just one piece of the puzzle. Without revealing too much, Teddy’s motivations are deeply tied to his relationship with his mother (played by Alicia Silverstone), which adds another layer to the crime. Will Tracy also pointed out how the situation will be perceived – the world will naturally react differently to a woman being kidnapped by two men compared to a man being kidnapped. He went on to explain,

Teddy is deeply affected by his mother’s absence, and that creates an interesting dynamic between them. When she’s kidnapped, she points out that being a prominent female CEO changes how the situation is perceived, and she wonders if that’s influencing things. This adds another layer to their relationship – the fact that she’s a powerful woman makes the whole situation unique.

That’s quite a bit to consider, but there’s more to the story. The role of CEO in the pharmaceutical industry is largely held by men, and the creator, Will Tracy, intentionally wanted to avoid the most predictable casting choice for the character. He explained,

Simply put, I think that traditionally, when you create a powerful CEO character – in the original movie and generally – it’s almost always a man. But if you change that, if you just flip that expectation, what kind of character do you get?

Interested in checking it out? The critically acclaimed film Bugonia had a small release last weekend, but it’s expanding to more theaters this Friday, just in time for Halloween – and it’s a perfect spooky season choice if you’re curious.

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2025-10-30 21:41