 Stone was drawn to acting from the age of four . She wanted a career in sketch comedy initially , but shifted focus toward musical theater , and took voice lessons for several years . She made her acting debut at the age of 11 with a role in a theater production of The Wind in the Willows , playing the part of Otter . Stone was homeschooled for two years , during which time she appeared in sixteen productions at Phoenix 's Valley Youth Theatre , including : The Princess and the Pea , Alice 's Adventures in Wonderland , and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat . She also performed with the theater 's improvisational comedy troupe . She traveled to Los Angeles and auditioned unsuccessfully for a role in Nickelodeon 's All That . This led her parents to send her to private acting lessons with a local acting coach , who had worked at the William Morris Agency in the 1970s . 
