Beautiful and talented Golden Globe nominated actress Emma Stone has established herself as one of the most successful and in-demand actresses at a very young age. In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, opening this Friday May 2, she reprises her role as Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker‘s love interest. Gwen and Peter’s relationship is at the heart of a film that’s filled with action, villains, excitement and visual fantasy. Their roller-coaster romance provides warmth, joy, sorrow and great comedic moments that set the film apart.

Stone’s long list of credits include Easy A, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination and an MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance; the award winning drama, The Help; the romantic comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love; the period drama Gangster Squad; and the Judd Apatow comedy Superbad, among others. She also lent her voice to the hit animated Dreamworks/20th Century Fox Film, The Croods.

In a career that continues to rise, her upcoming projects include the Untitled Cameron Crowe project to be released on December 25, 2014 opposite Bradley Cooper and Alec Baldwin. Other films scheduled for release this year include  Woody Allen’s Magic in the Moonlight in which she stars opposite Collin Firth, and the Fox Searchlight dark comedy Birdman, starring opposite Zack Galifinakis, Michael Keaton and Edward Norton.

When she’s not filming, Stone, is an advocate for Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), a groundbreaking initiative created to accelerate innovative cancer research that will get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. Laura Ziskin, the late producer of The Amazing Spider-Man, started the organization and got Stone involved. In addition to SU2C, Stone is also an ambassador for Gilda’s Club New York City, a place where people dealing with cancer can join together to build social and emotional support.

In our exclusive interview the striking beauty reveals everything you want to know about Gwen Stacy.

HOMBRE: How does it feel to reprise the role of Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man 2? 
Emma Stone: Gwen Stacy is such an important character in the Spider-Man world. The fate of her character is something everyone loves to talk about and Marc is really embracing the storyline and telling his version over the course of these movies.  Before my audition for the first film, I read about her story, and the more I read, the more I wanted to play her.

H: How was it shooting in New York?
ES: I can’t believe we didn’t shoot the first one in New York. It feels like this is meant to be. This is home. It was great, we were shooting all over the city. There was recreation of Times Square in a back-lot in Queens which was one of the most surreal experiences of my life.

H: What was it like to work with Andrew Garfield again?
ES: Before we shot the first movie, I hadn’t seen much of his work.  Now I know: he’s capable of so much. It’s an honor to work with an actor like that.  I learn so much by working with him – he’s incredibly prepared, meticulous, and really brave, all at the same time. He’s able to bring so much depth to the character.

H:  What can you tell us about Gwen Stacy in this film?
ES: At the end of the first film, Gwen and Peter broke up – but it obviously didn’t stick. She has a lot to figure out.  She’s set to go to Columbia, she’s got this great opportunity to maybe go to Oxford. She’s not staying around to see what her boyfriend is doing, she’s making her own decisions. After losing someone your awareness that life is short, no matter how much you live, tends to come into sharp focus. She’s following her destiny, whether it’s Peter’s destiny or not. She’s a role model, she’s a modern woman, making her own way in the world, not waiting around for the guy.

H: Why do you think they get back together?
ES: Peter had sworn to stay away from Gwen – which she knows – but she’s more open to being with Peter anyway. It’s not just because they’re in love.  Her father died, but that’s given her a huge awareness of time – that everything is fleeting.  Peter is more conflicted about it, and there’s a lot of tension between them throughout this movie.

H:  What can you tell us about her emotional progression?
ES: Because of her father dying in the first movie she’s more clearer and much more mature at the beginning of this one. She knows she wants to go to college and what she wants to do with her life and Peter is pretty tortured, coming and going, all the time. So their relationship is going through ups and downs and they’re trying to come up with some sort of clarity. You see the core stability in Gwen and her influence on Peter that you didn’t see in the first film.

H: Where does her strength come from?
ES: I go to the father a lot. He was the chief of police, he was saving the city, so she understands that heroic impulse. She has that too because she’s going to school for medicine, she wants to save people in the best way that she can. With her intelligence, she’s a great student and has a great mind for science and she’s using that gift.

H: This film has a great deal of levity and comedic moments, how did that come about?
ES: A lot of it was on the script. The writers had seen the movie and they knew what our chemistry was. But Marc (Webb, the director) kept it pretty open and it’s been a solid environment, to improvise, play around and kind of find it as we go.

H: Why is their humor important to the story?
ES: You see why they are so drawn to each other because of that joyful spark that happens between them. Because they’re going through so much individually otherwise it would be so bogged down. We’re going through a lot in the film, we’re breaking up, we are apart for a year, we get back together. There’s a scene in Union Square which has the most levity. Seeing someone that you really love in a year for the very first time and the feelings that come with that, no matter what’s happened between the two of you. If you love somebody and they bring that out in you, it’s brought up much more after not seeing them for a long time. They seem like the perfect match. With all the hardships they really get each other and are a wonderful support system for each other.

H: With that said, why do Peter and Gwen complement each other so well?
ES: There is something kind of magical in their connection. They obviously have similar interests. They’re both science minded and they love to learn and to invent. Peter Parker is a great amateur inventor, he comes up with web shooters and all sorts of nifty gadgets. They share that, but they also have a similar sense of humor. They seem to get each other in a way that is sort of indefinable and magical no matter what the circumstances are.

H: What was your reaction when you first saw the script and read what happens to Gwen throughout the film? 
ES: I knew. I had a feeling ahead of time about what was going to occur. I didn’t know how or when but I had an inkling. I loved it, when I read the script. I wish it wasn’t so tortured between Gwen and Peter. I wish they spent more time together and their relationship could be explored much more, maybe that’s selfish of me and that’s not what we’re dealing with here. I wished for more of that. Other than that it was beautifully done.

H: Why are superhero movies so popular?
ES: It’s a combination of things. Seeing something so big and visually stimulating on screen is fun and usually they come out in the Summer and its hot and you want to go to a theater and have a removed experience and feel like you’re escaping a little bit. People love heroes, they either want to be a hero or feel they need a hero depending on what kind of day you’re going through. And mythology is a big part of it too.  We’ve always loved stories about things that are bigger than us. They are kind of metaphors for these experiences we have as human beings and that’s what these superheroes are. Each one of them is like a different Greek God or something

H: What are your plans for the Summer?
ES: I have some down time and I’m looking into taking some glasses. I want to look more into biology because there is something of an innate interest and I have some connection. I think I would have loved it in school.

H: Why is The Amazing Spider-Man 2 different and special?
ES: Superhero movies seem to be getting more human as time goes on. And this one is an example of that. I think that Andrew’s Peter Parker is an incredibly relatable, emotional, diverse, interesting character that kind of sets himself apart from other superheroes. You really feel for him throughout his journey and the fact that he is a teenage boy adds a lot of relatability to him to anybody, of any age. His personal relationships. The love story.  The relationship with Aunt Mae, all of that lends itself to caring a lot more about the guy underneath the suit in those big action sequences. I just hope that part of the story would be a big draw. And just come see it. Come see the movie please.