 When Stone registered for the Screen Actors Guild the name " Emily Stone " was already taken . She chose " Riley Stone " as her stage name initially , but after guest @-@ starring on the Fox sitcom Malcolm in the Middle , she decided that she was more comfortable with " Emma " , a nickname that her mother had given her . She made her television debut as Laurie Partridge on the VH1 talent competition reality show In Search of the New Partridge Family ( 2004 ) . The resulting show , retitled The New Partridge Family ( 2004 ) , remained an unsold pilot . She followed this with guest appearances in a number of television series , including : Medium , Malcolm in the Middle , and Lucky Louie . She auditioned to star as Claire Bennet in the NBC science fiction drama Heroes and overheard in the casting room , " On a scale of 1 to 10 , you 're an 11 " ; but the casting directors were referring to Hayden Panettiere , who was cast instead . Stone deemed it her " rock bottom " experience . In April 2007 , she played Violet Trimble in the Fox action drama Drive , but the show was canceled after seven episodes . 
