Emma Stone: 'I lived my La La Land character's Hollywood nightmare'

Emma Stone used bad auditions as inspiration for her character in acclaimed new movie musical La La Land.

The star plays an struggling actress in Damien Chazelle's film, and reveals her director used some of her audition stories to shape certain scenes.

"That was a cathartic and interesting part of playing (my character) Mia," she tells E! News. "Ryan and I told Damien some of our audition stories, so he was nice enough to utilize some of those."

Despite experiencing some difficulties early in her career, Emma insists she wouldn't change anything about her career path because it has shaped her into the actress she is now.

"I don't really know if I would (go back and) tell myself anything because I feel happy to be where I am now and I think it all sort of unfolds the way it's supposed to unfold, so I wouldn't want to change any course along the way," she says.

Last month (Nov16), Emma detailed the rejection she experienced while pursuing her career, revealing she went through years of auditioning before landing a decent role.

"Obviously, I relate to Mia in quite a few ways. Auditioning, that kind of rejection, I went through three years of that - not six (like Mia), but I knew that world and what that felt like," she told Backstage magazine.

"Auditioning is the difference between being a good test-taker and being a good student. You could be a great student who, under pressure, is gonna fail on the test. I don't know how people can (cast) from auditions - it feels so different once you're actually on a set than it did in the audition."

The 28-year-old is receiving a heap of critical praise for her role in the film and is considered a frontrunner to win a Best Actress Academy Award next year (17).