Kristen Stewart: How Did We Get Here?
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
How Did We Get Here? Is a column where we observe the current statuses of specific filmmakers and/or stars, specifically ones whose legacies tell a different story. These include current rises of once misunderstood names, as well as curious contemporary work by veteran legends.
If I told you that Kristen Stewart would be a major Academy Award contender who could potentially be the one actress to beat, say, five years ago, you’d look at me as though I had two heads. However, the year is 2021, and most people are actually comfortable with this reality: Kristen Stewart could very well be an Oscar winner in a few months time for her portrayal of Diana, Princess of Wales in Pablo Larraín’s Spencer. There may have been shock initially because of the kinds of roles and films that Stewart was attached to. So, why is this potential Oscar a no-brainer? It’s time to look at the filmography of Kristen Stewart and ask: how did she get here?
Since she was a child, Stewart has been acting and was destined to be a part of the entertainment industry with her parents John (a producer and stage manager) and Jules (a script supervisor). After doing some acting in school, an agent spotted her during a Christmas play performance (it really pays to live in Los Angeles, huh?). Her first role in a major production is an uncredited background part in The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, but it wouldn’t take her long to find her breakthrough two years later in David Fincher’s Panic Room (at the age of twelve). Starring alongside Jodie Foster, Stewart was able to show off some dramatic acting chops whilst learning from one of the best of the previous generation. Even with this leap, Stewart was now getting bigger roles, but they weren’t quite the ones that would further her legacy quite yet, including the forgotten-about Catch That Kid, although she also had a part in Griffin Dunne’s Fierce People (an indie film that came well before she would be heavily identified with the label). Still, there were big youth roles she was undertaking, including Zathura: the much-anticipated follow-up to Jumanji
Panic Room.
Speeding along, the next major roles after Panic Room — for me anyway — are both in 2007: The Cake Eaters and Into the Wild. Both are indie film smash hits of the year that really showed a lot of Stewart’s versatility. I also want to highlight these works, because it’s evidence that Stewart never really became an indie darling later on in her career. She always was one, whether a certain major film franchise let us acknowledge this or not. Of course, I’m talking about Twilight, which came out a year later in 2008. Considering the frigid nature of the film(s), Stewart garnered a reputation (much like co-star Robert Pattinson, who has also shed his previous stigmas by now) that her emotional range was limited. What I believe is that this is someone with indie roots (and a more minimal style) now being placed on a massive stage within the confinements of a massive teen franchise, so she was bound to be scrutinized no matter who she is.
Unfortunately, the yardstick for many moviegoers is the popular films that someone does. This happens with Marvel films and the Star Wars franchise, for instance. Enough performers have been lambasted for the limitations of such roles (I don’t want to be misread: these blockbuster films do contain strong performances and have the capabilities to house a lot of talent, but they still don’t show the entire range of what certain actors and actresses can do, and thus I believe this leads to some misconceptions, unfortunately). Stewart as Bella Swan was typecast — by the public, mind you — as someone who was “wooden”. Meanwhile, during the release of each film during The Twilight Saga, she starred in more indie flicks like Adventureland and Welcome to the Rileys, as well as noteworthy works, starring as Joan Jett in the biopic The Runaways and in the adaptation of the Jack Kerouac novel On the Road. There was also the first of the Snow White films that Stewart starred in, which added to the overall public’s understanding of her image; needless to say, it yielded similar results when compared to Twilight.
Meanwhile, Stewart didn’t deviate from these major films to jump into more minimalist work (if anything, Twilight and Snow White were deviations from her usual fare). She would turn around very quickly two years after Breaking Dawn — Part 2 (the last of the Twilight films) and become the very first American actress to win a César Award for Clouds of Sils Maria (directed by Olivier Assayas); Stewart would work with Assayas again on the follow up paranormal drama Personal Shopper. This is the side of Stewart that didn’t get discussed nearly enough on our side of the pond, especially if she was being considered a megastar of blockbuster films that dabbled in independent works (when really the opposite was going on). Once Stewart was free of Twilight, her parade of notable indie works really took off (either based on acclaim or due to strong performances by Stewart): Still Alice, Certain Women, Seberg, Camp X-Ray (and the list goes on). Occasionally, Stewart would pop into the popular limelight with works by big named directors like Café Society (Woody Allen) and Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (Ang Lee), but it was the Charlie’s Angels reboot that propelled her to the biggest spotlight around this era of her career; again, I feel like the wrong image of Stewart was projected.
Spencer.
Now comes Spencer: the first time that one of Kristen Stewart’s performances that really shows off her strengths is being placed on such a high pedestal for the world to see. That can happen when you star as Princess Diana, mind you. I also want to add that this is by far the best performance of her career, and she has only pushed herself further than ever before. I hope I’ve made my point, however, that Kristen Stewart has been misunderstood for over a decade by now (even by myself, who ate my words after my screening of Spencer at TIFF). Other notable performers that incorporate a very signature style into all of their performances get a pass, whilst Stewart has been routinely skewered for the like, being marked as an actress who just does the same thing again and again. Again, I think only focusing on major mainstream releases is a faulty way to look at what a performer can or cannot do, and it’s the kind of microscope that has hounded her for the majority of her prime. Spencer has now ushered in the next phase of her career, but it was only an extension of her true self, whether people realize it or not.
So, how did Kristen Stuart get to where she is now? Gradually, and with patience, even in the face of so much naysaying and damnation (and the fickleness of millions of diehard franchise obsessives). Having really taken a look at what Stewart has done before, I can’t say that a role like Spencer is really all that surprising anymore, outside of being caught off guard on how far she would be willing to expand on her capabilities. Otherwise, the film is within her wheelhouse, and she has been judged for a couple of films that brought an introspective actress outside of her norm. This is a natural progression, and I hope it only keeps going higher from here.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.