Hollywood glitz
Likes offbeat and enigmatic roles: Kristen Stewart
Kristen Stewart, actress from the USA, is chairing the Berlinale jury this year. photo
© Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP/dpa
She is known for films like “Twilight”: With Kristen Stewart, the Berlinale is getting a young jury president. She says that prices are not that important to her – at least when it comes to her own.
From the teenage star of a romantic fantasy series to the sought-after actress in art house cinema – Kristen Stewart has made it. But how? Directors and colleagues who have worked with the 32-year-old praise her acting talent. She has also consciously opted for more complex roles in recent years.
And then there is something special about the appearance of the American: a specific coolness, expressed for example in the refusal to smile all the time or wearing flat shoes on the red carpet.
As for acting, Stewart most recently made a name for herself as Diana on Spencer. She embodies the princess with oppressive, introspective despair. Stewart exudes something mysterious, director Pablo Larraín said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. You can’t understand her, and that’s what makes her game so appealing.
Stewart often plays enigmatic women who become exciting because some things remain hidden. In films like “Crimes of the Future”, “Jean Seberg – Against all Enemies” or “Personal Shopper” her characters seem to be in a fragile state of limbo.
Feature film debut as director in planning
Stewart is also making a name for herself with her planned feature film debut as a director. She is working on a film adaptation of Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoirs, which in “The Chronology of Water” tells of difficult family relationships, her budding and failing swimming career and, for example, her bisexuality.
Stewart – who has had relationships with both men and women and is currently dating a screenwriter – grew up in Los Angeles. At the age of 12 she became known as an actress opposite Jodie Foster in “Panic Room”. More roles followed in her teens, until 2008, when she made her breakthrough with the first film adaptation of the young adult book series “Twilight”. The role of the teenage mortal who falls in love with a vampire made Stewart and her boyfriend—on screen and at times real—Robert Pattinson a piece of teen pop culture cult.
First American with a French César
Maybe it was because of the sometimes hysterical attention the two received that after “Twilight” Stewart focused more on independent productions (with a few exceptions). And this decision was rewarded: for her role in the complex drama “Clouds of Sils Maria” she was the first American to be awarded a French César Actor’s Prize.
Her role in “Spencer” earned her her first Oscar nomination. Stewart himself said he didn’t take it too seriously. “I don’t give a shit,” she said on a Variety podcast. Although she emphasized that she felt honored, she attributed the film’s success to the hustle and bustle surrounding Princess Diana. “There are so many incredible films and performances that hardly get seen. That definitely says something about where we are as a cumulative presence – what we watch, what we care about (…)”
She has often emphasized her preference for offbeat fabrics and themes. Against this background, it is exciting what can be expected of Stewart as the jury president of the Berlinale.
Interview with Pablo Larraín “Los Angeles Times” Kristen Stewart in the podcast “Variety Awards Circuit” Berlinale information about Stewart