Emma Stone: I adopted a stage name for six months

LOS ANGELES — Oscar winner Emma Stone said she used a "beautiful" stage name for six months after discovering she couldn't use her birth name of Emily Stone when working in Hollywood.

During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the 36-year-old actress said: "I actually adopted a stage name for, I would say, like six months. Because the Screen Actors Guild, it’s like the Business Bureau. You can only have one person with that name.

"I was 16, and I decided I wanted to be Riley for like six months. So I was Riley Stone, which is a beautiful name."

However, Stone shared she struggled to get used to being called Riley when she was working.

She added: "I did an episode, like a guest part, on Malcolm in the Middle, and they kept going like: ‘Riley! Riley!’ And I had no idea who they were talking to. Truly. And I was like: ‘I cannot be Riley.' Like, it’s such a … It came out of nowhere.”

“I was just like: 'Cool name. I’ll just be Riley'."

The actress then decided to switch to Emma Stone because it sounded similar to her birth name of Emily, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

She added: "So I then changed it to ‘Emma' because it’s close enough to ‘Emily'."

The Oscar-winner had earlier said she would love to revert back to her real name of Emily because it can become very confusing at times.

She told The Hollywood Reporter: "When I get to know them, people that I work with do (call me Emily). It’s just because my name was taken (by another actress). Then I freaked out a couple of years ago. For some reason, I was like: 'I can’t do it anymore. Just call me Emily' ... "

Asked if she would correct a fan who called her Emily instead of Emma, the actress replied: "No. That would be so nice. I would like to be Emily."