Kristen Stewart Interview, TWILIGHT

KRISTEN STEWART (Bella Swan) was introduced to worldwide audiences with her outstanding performance alongside Jodie Foster in Panic Room. Stewart was most recently seen in supporting roles in the dramas Into the Wild for director Sean Penn and as Robert de Niro’s daughter in What Just Happened? for director Barry Levinson.

She will next be seen in Adventureland, starring opposite Ryan Reynolds and Jesse Eisenberg for director Greg Mottola. Stewart plays starring roles in the forthcoming independent films The Cake Eaters, for director Mary Stuart Masterson, and Yellow Handkerchief, with William Hurt and Maria Bello. Other film credits include: In the Land of Women, The Messengers, Zathura, Speak, Fierce People, Catch That Kid, Undertow, Cold Creek Manor and The Safety of Objects.

What attracted you to the role of Bella?

My favourite thing about Bella is that she is supposed to fill this role of the damsel in distress, but in an odd way she sort of holds the power in the relationship. She is very sure of herself and is not afraid of the situation which is so much bigger than her. Bella and Edward have like a funny dynamic. He’s a vampire and he would suck the last bit of blood out of her, yet she’s completely fascinated by him.

Can you understand why teenagers fall in love with this book?

Yeah it’s definitely easy to become obsessed with it, because it has a very push and pull build. It’s really easy to get into it and not be able to put it down.

Did you feel that you had boundaries with your character as she was adapted from a book?

We definitely have a very particular responsibility. It’s a funny thing. Usually you have so much freedom on a film when it comes to developing your character, working with the director and the script, but in this case she was very set already. We just knew what it was in the beginning; you just can’t stray from that. We had a very particular story to tell. There was no room for interpretation which was fine.

Did you ever get scared while filming?

No, there were a hundred people standing around! (Laughs) It’s high stakes and to stay in such a charged energy all day is exhausting. Acting scared is very tiring! The first scene we did was the last scene of the movie. It’s like the climax of the scene.  It happens in a ballet studio. And that was the first week right off the bat. So many things happened with my character. The whole arc basically comes down in that one moment and I’m trying to psyche myself up before the first take – and I’m supposed to walk into the room and start this crazy fight scene and I almost passed out! It can be quite draining.

Are you like Bella in anyway?

Bella is a very relatable character. I think that’s why girls have taken to the book so much. You read it and you put yourself in her shoes. Bella is a vessel. For Bella, I feel like everybody just puts themselves in that situation. She’s a very normal girl. I feel like I’m a fairly normal girl. She’s going through everything a 17 year old girl goes through which I am figuring out too.

What makes the story so intriguing?

Well Bella is definitely self sufficient. She’s very much on her own and on her own path and very pragmatic about how she considers life. That’s what makes the story so great, because when this happens – it’s like an impossible thing that takes over and she lets it happen. There is no choice for her. That’s an interesting change for her. She takes things for what they are. Bella doesn’t over consider things and let them intimidate her. Edward is tortured and thinks that his is wrong and he’s going to hurt her and this is something that you should run away from. And she’s like: ‘You can’t live life like that.’

Why are vampires so sexy?

I think it’s because they are classically meant to draw you in to the point where they have you in a complete submitting state so they can then kill you! So that’s sexy a little bit - to give yourself to something - to completely let something take over you. It’s like the forbidden fruit. It’s something you can’t have so you just want more.

Were you drawn to a particular scene that you looked forward to shooting when you read the book?

Yeah, one thing about this movie is that there are very iconic moments. If you read the book, there are moments in the film that are bigger in your mind. The reveal of what Edward is. Everything in this movie is a fight – like a fight to find out who he is. A fight to have him acknowledge it and to sustain that. I think when he reveals who exactly he is, he shows Bella his true colours so to speak. He shines and glistens in the sunlight. There’s a moment when he turns and shows her and he is ashamed. She’s looking at him thinking that this is the most unspeakable, beautiful thing in her life and he’s just ashamed of it. 

Is it an instant attraction between Bella and Edward?

It’s not like they get to know each other and they think – h e is really cool and she is really great and they have so much in common. It is an instant chemical reaction. Like she walks in the classroom and he smells her for the first time. And can’t take it. He’s like crushing the table. Most girls would want to crawl under the table and die and she’s sort of like – she has to know what it is. It’s this chemical thing that is going on. It doesn’t exist in the real world

Is it very romantic?

Yeah classically speaking. We were playing around with vampire mythology and how vampires effect people and their powers, you find yourself arguing about the little details – like at three o’clock in the morning! The touch thing – like what it feels like to touch a vampire, like all of that it doesn’t exist so it was hard to make sure we did all of our homework and have it be consistent.