Audience: You experienced the limelight at a very young age, when you were just a child playing in David Fincher’s Panic Room. How do you deal with fame?
Kristen Stewart: I would not say that I manage it, but rather that I undergo it. I assume it’s part of the package when you have some success and I have no control over it. But you know, you don’t have to be a famous person to feel the same way, this weight of judgment from others. You cannot change their outlook or their opinions from the moment when those who judge you, who stick labels on you, are convinced that they are the bearers of the great truth! I have taken my side, believe me, and I have decided not to fight against this tendency which consists in locking you in a box. It’s a waste of time, it’s counterproductive and I’d rather spend my energy on something else! When people have a preconceived idea of you, there’s nothing you can do about it…
Have you suffered a lot?
Yes, when I started! But I suffer less now. When false information is peddled on your account, tell yourself that there is no way to rectify it or change the course of things. You will, indeed, always have people who will tell you that there is no smoke without fire. No matter how much you prove to them, demonstrate to them, that they are false and that they have been in some way abused and manipulated, they will not care! How many times have I felt trapped… Sometimes I gave interviews and said things that were misinterpreted. I corrected myself then and said: That’s not what I meant! We resume the interview if you don’t mind!’ Unfortunately, we did not give Princess Diana that chance!
Do you feel a common destiny with Diana?
No. Her, the slightest of her reactions, her gestures, her blushing complexion, her smiles, her gaze, were dissected and analyzed. Everyone felt like they knew her intimately, because she had a talent and that talent was that she was approachable. The people who met her were all unanimous, you had the feeling of being in front of a friend. But ironically, no one knew who she really was. No one understood that what she dreaded the most was being alone!
“I don’t pay anyone to check the temperature of my bath”
You seem pretty upset…?
In fact, it’s not so much fame that bothers me, it’s the way we talk about it and how we are perceived, us actors. People imagine that because we are famous, our aspirations are different from theirs. And yet, if they knew. Our only ambition is to have friends, a good quality of life and interesting projects. Like everyone! You have to stop thinking that when I get home, I pay someone to make sure my bath temperature is the right one…
What was the first gossip about you that made you laugh out loud?
I had been told a rather delirious rumor at the time of Twilight. The journalist said that since I played Bella, I intended, on the sidelines of the cinema, to raise wolves!
We often talk about your rebellious side. Is it a character trait that you claim?
To be a rebel, someone would have to force me to be a different person than I am. Which is not the case. I don’t care what people think of me! What pisses me off, on the other hand, are the hateful, racist, ignorant remarks. When I hear people criticize without knowing the why of the how, it makes me bubble from the inside…
“I don’t care what people think of me!”
And concretely, you could become violent when you are disrespected?
No ! I don’t work like that! On the other hand, at the level of pictorial vocabulary and swear words, I have, as it were, a hell of a background! It comes to me from the time when the girls at my school were picking on me because I wasn’t like her!
To escape those who are chasing you, do you have a panic room at home like in the film you shot as a kid with Jodie Foster?
No ! I don’t have a panic room, a guard dog, or watchtowers, or clumsy men on duty outside the door of my home. I also don’t have guns because I’m a non-violent girl. On the other hand, I am very afraid of being killed by Twitter. One day or another, they will locate my address and they will shoot me! (Laughs.)
You’ve spent your life justifying yourself and trying to peel off certain labels. If you had to choose one that the press has stuck with you and that really does not correspond to reality, what would it be?
The press sometimes says that I am a distant, cold person. In fact, I am a very shy person. I feel uncomfortable in an interview because I have to talk about myself. However, to talk about yourself, you have to know yourself and, at this level, I feel that there are still a lot of gray areas in me, but that is my secret garden!
Key dates
1. April 9, 1990
Born in Los Angeles. Kristen Jaymes Stewart was born into a showbiz family since her father is a producer and manager, and her mother is a screenwriter and scriptwriter.
2. November 2008
Kristen’s notoriety explodes thanks to her role as Bella in the Twilightet saga on which she meets a certain Robert Pattinson.
3. November 2021
After love stories with, among others, Stella Maxwell, Soko and St Vincent, Kristen formalizes her engagement with Dylan Meyer, her companion since 2019.
4. January 2022
Kristen plays Lady Diana in Spencer, available on Amazon Prime Video, which looks back on the days when Prince Charles’ wife decided to divorce.
See also: with this crazy gesture, Kristen Stewart played her place at the Festival!
Interview by Frank Rousseau, in Los Angeles