Jennifer Lawrence or Emma Stone?

Hmmmmm...........that's like saying between Walken and Voight who is the preeminent actor of their generation - it's neither

Like I have said a ton on here - and nobody ever replies because they think talking acting is stupid or weird I guess - Lawrence does not have the technical capabilities to act with other actresses if you try to compare her. What she has is a unique intuitive sense - she's a "natural" and her closest precedent is Debra Winger. Sometimes she can muscle though parts she doesn't have the background for.......other times not so much.

Stone has the background but if she ever takes hold of a project like SLP by THE THROAT and gets anywhere near the uncomfortable depths of non-acting that Lawrence can get to well, it will be a first..........on the other hand, what Lawrence has doesn't lend itself to careers.......it lends itself to message board nerds saying "see, I told you she was never that good!" and what happens to Debra Winger.

I find them both enormously likeable as screen actresses and I am never unhappy to see them. They may even get me to watch a film I wouldn't otherwise, based purely one their involvement (Hunger Games, Battle of the Sexes). I think Lawrence has the higher high (Winter's Bone), and she has a wild and unpredictable quality that I love and I don't associate with Stone, but that quality has inevitably led to her having the lower lows. Stone is far more consistent than Lawrence and her very best efforts are cinema magic. I love far more of her works than those from Lawrence, and she is probably my actress of the decade...she's at least there or thereabouts. At the moment I think Queen Saoirse has her number as the best 'young' actress, in terms of how I'm defining 'young' at least, but Stone isn't too far behind. Stone also gets points for being one of the only things about La La Land I wasn't either hating or in complete indifference to. Still, if I had to level a little criticism at her, I don't always find her believable in those moments of big emotion. So, whilst I adore them both, I do give Stone a notable edge. I'd love to see Lawrence get her career back on a steady track, now that the crazy hoopla that was made of her has died down a little. She is such a talent, just like Stone.

She's great and the film is rather good too.  I most likely wouldn't have watched it if she wasn't the lead.

This is like comparing dinner rolls, there's really not much to it. Lawrence has higher highs but she can also be plain bad and as of late doesn't seem interested in stretching herself as a performer. Stone is sort of shaping up to be a female Jake Gyllenhaal in the sense that she's racking up a truly enviable list of projects but her performances therein typically fall short. I do think she has more potential to grow as an actress than Lawrence does, though.

Lawrence has certainly more potential and while lately Stone has got the better roles and gave some strong performances herself all of her work is far behind Silver Linings Playbook or Winter's Bone.

So: Lawrence

I much prefer Stone.

I will die defending Lawrence. If her movies were as good as Stone's, it'd be no contest - and I love Stone.

Easily Emma Stone. Jennifer Lawrence has nothing worth noting beyond Winter's Bone (which is admittedly stunning work; though I've never seen any of her earlier work), Emma Stone on the other hand has had La La Land and The Favourite, which are better than the garbage Lawrence has been in.

Emma Stone's persona is also far more down-to-earth whereas Jennifer Lawrence gets more and more obnoxious by day.

Stephen's already nailed it.

Lawrence has plenty of natural talent and can be supremely charismatic on screen, but nothing that she's done after Winter's Bone and Silver Linings Playbook has adequately tapped into those strengths. Signing up for X-Men and Hunger Games made sense at the time and I also see why she feels so indebted to David O. Russell, but those commitments sucked up way too much of her time in that 2013-2016 stretch and prevented her from seizing that momentum to really challenge herself and tap into what makes her so interesting. mother! stands out as the only legitimately bold move she's made in the time since, regardless of what one thinks of the finished product. As for the rest: Serena... exists, I guess, though I don't really know anybody who's seen it to verify that information; saying yes to Passengers was quite a head-scratcher of a move; and Red Sparrow, while better than I expected, was still very forgettable (and irresponsible, though that's a different discussion). It also doesn't help matters that every time Lawrence gets linked to a potentially exciting filmmaker, either the projects fall apart (Linklater, Spielberg) or someone else gets cast (Tarantino, McQueen). I'm hoping that prison drama she's attached to allows her to hit reset on her career and get back on track.

Stone, on the other hand, has continued to challenge herself and improve as time as time has gone by. It used to be that Lawrence had the higher highs while Stone was more consistent, but then La La Land and especially The Favourite happened, so she might actually beat Lawrence in that regard too, and I haven't even seen Maniac yet (for which she earned some pretty strong praise as well). Stone has the much stronger filmography, has shown more versatility, and seems to be maneuvering her career in a much wiser fashion, which is also paramount for any actor's legacy. She knows her strengths and is wise to choose roles that suit her, which is a quality that (to bring another actress of this generation into the mix) Kristen Stewart also has: she's a much more limited performer than either Lawrence or Stone, but much like the latter, she knows how to pick roles that play to her skills and collaborates with interesting auteurs, which has allowed her to carve out a solid niche for herself even in spite of her shortcomings (and massive internet vitriol). I'll gladly take Stewart's 2016 lineup alone over the entirety of Lawrence's post-Oscar output.

Well that didn't age well did it - she's doing it twice this year - she is the premier American actress under 40 now........

Who would you cite as potential figures to do this?  I feel like aside from her natural comic gifts, Stone has more daring and intrepidness, whether it be capably doing an English accent, insouciant nudity/sexuality (Lawrence beating up those dudes while naked isn't quite the same thing for me), etc.  I don't really ever get the sense that Lawrence wants to challenge herself.