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Kristen Stewart looks beyond Bella

I admit that the standing-in-line-for-days furor around New Moon mystifies me. I mean please, this is not The Final Ever Until Lucas Gets Another Idea Star Wars movie.

I also admit that I am old and a bit of a snob.

But last week, a young bisexual friend of mine put it in perspective for me with two words: Kristen Stewart.


My friend explained to me that while she certainly is a huge fan of the Twilight franchise, she would go see Kristen Stewart in anything. She just can’t take her eyes off of her. And it dawned on me: Stewart is my friend’s Meryl Streep. And judging by the responses of AfterEllen.com readers at any mention of Stewart, not to mention Hot 100 status, she’s not alone.

I have followed Kristen since Panic Room. She was able to make an impression even sharing the screen with Jodie Foster — no easy task.

And I did think she was quite good in Twilight, despite the fact that most critics didn’t.

 

I suppose, though, that I feel a little uncomfortable having a crush on a 19-year-old. I’m probably older than her mom. Then again, when I see totally gay pictures like this, I have a fleeting thought that maybe she would think I’m a MILF. (And OK, yeah; I have a Bella action figure. It’s a collectible, people.)

In any case, Kristen Stewart has been making the interview rounds, including a feature in Sunday’s New York Times.

I am happy to report that my opinion of her talent is shared with the likes of Sean Penn and Jodie Foster. Penn, in fact, called her “a real force with terrific instincts” after directing her in Into the Wild.

Foster, to whom people often compare Stewart because of their physical resemblance, agrees. “Kristen isn’t interested in blurting out her emotions all in front of her, and that results in really intelligence and interesting performances,” Foster said. Sounds like the resemblance is more than just physical.

Stewart wishes that more people would focus on her talent instead of whether she prefers cream cheese or butter on her bagels. “I do wish that people would focus more on the work, and I can’t say that I don’t take it personally. But I understand it because what you do as an actor is so tied up in who you are as a person,” she continued with a deep sigh. “What really kills me — it really rips me up — is when people think I’m abrasive, inconsiderate or ungrateful because I don’t go outside in a bikini and wave to the paparazzi. Come on!”

As the Times points out, Stewart’s hints of shyness and awkwardness probably have made her seem more accessible to fans. That, of course, is a bit of a Catch-22, since she has to maintain an air of inapproachability to keep fans from seeing her as their BFF. But interviewers report that Kristen is animated and funny as long as the focus stays on her public life. She calls the people who intrude on her private life “fiends” — and refuses to indulge them.

The good news for fans of Stewart’s craft is that the success of Twilight frees her to take on more challenging and adventurous roles that have limited box office appeal. Certainly, we will be in line to see her play Joan Jett in The Runaways, but the film probably won’t be a blockbuster.

Her next project is the indie film we told you about last fall. In K-11, Stewart plays Butterfly, a transsexual in a special prison unit for gay inmates. Twilight compadre Nikki Reed costars.

 

 

For the moment, however, we’ll have to be content with Kristen Stewart as Bella. But don’t feel obligated to line up for Team Edward or Team Jacob. We all are hoping that the team she actually chooses is ours.

Are you planning to see New Moon? What’s your favorite Kristen Stewart role so far? Do you think her talent will take her well beyond Bella?

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  • Sade's picture

    Kristen Stewart

    Kristen Stewart <3.

     

    One of the reasons I do like her is because she stays to herself most of the time. She could care less about fame and rather just act. And that's hard to come by now a days with some of these actors/actresses. Any girl who'd rather stay at home while her friends are partying gets two thumbs up for me. PLus I love her nervouness while she's being interviewed lol. Something about it makes me swoon over her just a little bit more.

     

    Anyways lol I'll probably watch New Moon online or something. I never read Twilight lol and don't realy plan on reading it. My favorite Kristen Stewart role is probably Speak or The Messengers. And I think her talent will take her well beyond Bella. Especially since she's always willing to do different types of roles. Like in an interview that she did she said she likes to do movies in between Twilight because if she didn't she might go crazy. Soooo...yeah I think she'll do just great.

    Brynn's picture

    Just being obedient!

     

    Did you happen to stare at the arrows on her shirt as long as I did?  Oh, how I would love to follow those directions!  ;)

    http://dizzabeth.blogspot.com/ -You know you want to.

    ElusiveJ's picture

    Team Alice

    I have to admit to really loathing the whole Twilight franchise, but at my job in a bookstore I hosted the various parties and events for it. At one of them we had the kids form groups for Team Jacob, Team Edward, and Team Other. I swear I didn't influence the voting, but the biggest group of all was most of the preteen girls voting for Bella to end up with Alice.

    Sade's picture

    because Alice is the coolest

    because Alice is the coolest lol I seen the movie even though I refused to read the book because of the big hype over it. but I don't blame them for picking her. She's probably one of the coolest characters from the movie.
    Bridget's picture

    YES, Alice!

    She is so great! I was disappointed with how tiny her role was in the movie compared the book.
    McGirl-ver's picture

    Team Other = Team Alice

    I always thought Alice was way cooler than Jacob or Edward. But, sadly, that's not what Meyers had in mind. I will be waiting in line on Friday morning. Yes, I am 30 and playing hookie from work to watch a double feature of twilight and new moon at 12:05 Thursday night. As for Stewarts real life, I'm just glad she's not going after the "fame" and being drunk and a bad role-model...actually none of them have done anything bad yet to get them in the tabloids, aside from whom they may/may not be dating. I wonder if that is in their contract or something?
    Sade's picture

    She actually did have

    She actually did have something in the tabloids but nobody really mad a big thing about it. She was smoking weed :D I didn't see what the big problem was since it's not bad for you unless you smoke it too much. but aside from that nothing bad.
    juxtap0sitionn's picture

    ALICE FTW

    Team ALICE! definitely. XD 

    And yes!! I too was disappointed about the lack of her character in the movies.. =[

     

    "Better to keep your mouth shut and have people think you're a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

    Angela's picture

    Kristen Stewart

    i think shes a great actress and i like that she tries to keep her life private. i really like her and look forward to seeing New Moon cuz shes adorable :)
    nicesuit's picture

    Very cute

    She is so pretty and what a great actress. Need to see her in more interesting roles because she can stretch.

    Sometimes she reminds me of Effy (Kaya S.) in Skins.  Similar vibe but Kaya is a bit younger.

    If they pull off the American version of Skins which I hope they don't.

    Kristen would be a good candidate for the Effy type character. The only reason I would watch it would be if Kristen would be in it. Wonder if she would be interested in TV or she is strictly a film actor.

     

    misguidedghost's picture

    I agree with the effy

    I agree with the effy resemblance there's something. But Skins focuses on characters that are a bit younger. I think she'd be too old for a part in it, don't you think?

     

    TO WRITE LOVE ON HER ARMS

    Claire's picture

    She'll need quite a few more

    She'll need quite a few more years before she's any Meryl, but she does show promise as a good actor.  I admire her keeping to herself in a world of vexatious and aggressive media.  She'll come around eventually like Jodie did, in her own way.  And yeah, the Twilight craze is a little much considering there are a few more movies on the way.  To each her own, I suppose.
    aeryn20's picture

    ah yes...

    I went to watch panic room because I love jodie foster and ended up being blown away by kristen. Shes got the same kind of effortlessness on screen as ellen page, other young actresses would kill to have their talent. She can play bella with her eyes shut really so itll be nice to see her in more challenging roles and thats the opportunity playing bella gives her. I think the first twilight movie was a good popcorn flick so ill probably go see the new one it if I have any spondoolicks left after christmas shopping. I think shes beautiful but I feel like a dirty old perv saying that given our relative ages lol

    ~sarah

    luv girlz a lot's picture

    of course, i am! wanna

    of course, i am!

    wanna watch it with my gf.

    i always luv to see kristen in any movies,

    i do adore her beauty so much since i saw her in panic room.

    luv her alot!

    ;D

    n i agree so much if some people said that she got physical resemblance with jodie foster. i always luv jodie, she's attractive.

    can't wait to see K-11,

    hope it will be in asia soon.

    MizEloise's picture

    i love kristen, she does

    i love kristen, she does something to me... im like moved by her beauty, is that retarded?! anyway i love her!! i think shes a great actress... i love all of her movies. speak was amazing. fierce people was awesome as well! cant wait for new moon!! i read the books because i found out she was in the movies! k-11 and the runaways/cherry bomb will be even BETTER i feel!!
    rusty_tiffany's picture

    kstew <3

    i love kristen stewart, i decided i'm going to marry her, unless nikki reed gets there first. i think she's gorgeous and a legit talented actor, when twilight isn't looked at as her only role. she was good in in the land of women, and not much about that movie was good, she was good in adventureland, speak ,the cake eaters, into the wild.... she's actually a good actress when she's not playing one-dimensional characters whose sole purpose in life is to wait for a creepy mopey vampire.
    Sade's picture

    lol agreed. i loved her in

    lol agreed. i loved her in the messengers too, even though it wasn't really that scary she made me love the movie.
    Thinking of getting my hips replaced. My hips are fine, but I&#039;ll be one step closer to becoming a machine.'s picture

    yeah people agree.

    yeah people agree.  I've been saying Kristen Stewart is the best thing since sliced bread for two years now, it felt like I was talking to thin air the whole time.  And I have seen her in everything she has done, she is definitely my Meryl Streep, although Meryl Streep is my Meryl Streep.

     

     

     

    cause the best thing in life is chicks

    JC's picture

    Funny coincidence...

    I just today sat through a Lifetime movie just to see her. Anyone ever seen Speak before? So worth it. As Lifetime movies go it really wasn't all that bad. She was pretty awesome in it.  
    stiggy's picture

    Funny coincidence...

    Funny coincidence, I just posted about that movie!

    Yeah, she was great in it and for a little movie I thought it was pretty decent too.

    Sade's picture

    lol that was my only reason

    lol that was my only reason to watch a lifetime movie. i don't like that channel for some reason.
    Anonymous's picture

    Why can't

    The Runaways be a "blockbuster"?

    If there's a billion Twilight & Kristen fans in the world - no doubt they will see The Runaways, if only for her.

    ... and Dakota Fanning is in it.  Plus it's a music movie = universal appeal.

    stiggy's picture

    Meryl?

    I am not so sure about that.  She was incredible in Speak. Her intensity and intelligence was palpable in a movie where she said very little. But as she has gotten older the intensity is still there but I don't see the same intelligence. Maybe its the roles.

    Scroll Lock's picture

    Someone please,

    explain to me a bit more clearly why people compare her to Jodie Foster?

    They look absolutely nothing alike.

    She's pretty, but she's no Meryl Streep.

    page1of1's picture

    Kim Stolz is saying exactly what everyone else is also thinking

    From Twitter:
    @KimmyStolz- I just watched the mtv #twilight and #newmoon specials and I still think #kristenstewart is a lesbian. And, my gaydar rarely fails.

    heh

    ketchup__fights's picture

    It's certainly what I was thinking.

    Heh. Oh Kim Stolz. I was wondering when someone in this thread would come out and say it. Girl pinged my gaydar hard back when I went to see Panic Room. I mean, just look at her in that picture!  
    Sade's picture

    lol yeah she has to atleast

    lol yeah she has to atleast like girls.
    Larys Morissette's picture

    I have my thoughts

    I always had the feeling that she is actually in our team...who knows.

    She has this thing that makes me think she's a lesbo! or is it just my twisted mind?!

    Anyways, I loved all of her movies (except for these two vampire movies) and I think she's great.

    periwinkle's picture

    she has a masculine feminine

    she has a masculine feminine vibe goin on(which i think is super hot). i haven't seen her in anything yet but i can't wait for runaways
    Nattie's picture

    Shes soo awkwardly cute

    I love Kristen Stewart and dispite what all my friends and a lot of critics thought she was terrible in Twilight when I thought she played Bella very well... She was amazing in Speak which I think next to Panic Room was her best performance... She has this awkward cuteness that just draws me to her... I thought when she dropped the award at the MTV movie awards after winning best female performance that, that was the cutest thing ever...

    She seems very not like the typical young hollywood actress and that she is just chill and does her own thing... She is also very very hott, and I def thing she plays for both teams, something about her screams I like girls!

    Sade's picture

    yeah her awkwardness

    yeah her awkwardness definitely is attractive and i don't know why lol
    Sweet_Marie's picture

    just a thought but

    Girl must be in denial, she sets my gaydar off big time. Is she finally done going with that Robert dude?

    Sade's picture

    I don't even think she's

    I don't even think she's really dating him. It's just the media pushing them together because of twilight and to make some of the crazed twilight fans happy.
    Sweet_Marie's picture

    I sure as hell hope not,

    I sure as hell hope not, even if she is straight just he is so ... dirty looking.
    Sade's picture

    lmao something about him is

    lmao something about him is not cute. i don't know what it is but something just doesn't attract me to him. now if she was dating taylor launter&(the boy who plays jacob) he was legal then I wouldn't mind because he's actually attractive.
    flor's picture

    Not comparable

    I just happened to have watched Panic Room last night on DVD (like at least the 6th time). Whenever I get a yearning for Jodie Foster I go to my library and get all the movies with Jodie Foster they have on the shelves.

    I still have The Brave One to go. I think the Panic Room and Flightplan are about my favorites, oh and then there's Inside Man (but I saw that so many times already too)...

    Anyhow Kristen Stewart compared to Jodie Foster and/or Meryl Streep. There just is no way. She was impressive in Panic Room, and she even looked enough like JF that it was plausible they were related.

    But one just can not compare her with the very great talents of either JF or Meryl Streep. And why does everyone think she's a lesbian or bisexual? Just because she's cute or poses like these photos here with a smokey look? That's fantasy, not reality. I haven't read anything accept about the boyfriends she's dated.

     

     

    Queer Silver's picture

    look-a-like

    Can't get over her resemblance with Kate Moennig. I also feel a little tingle in my gaydar

    -MJ

    Spread the RAINBOW!

    http://mgayness.livejournal.com

    jam4's picture

    umju!

    the same to me,jejejejejeje!
    kathy's picture

    Kate Moenning....

    I noticed the resemblance to Kate (Shane) also the first time I saw her in Panic Room....and she set me gaydar off then.
    jamlawgirl's picture

    Well I certainly have NO

    Well I certainly have NO intention of seeing anything Twilight related, so I'll have to check her out in something else before I can form an impression of her as an actress.

    She is attractive, though. Except when she's in Bella mode; somehow she just loses all hotness when she's in that character.

    Sade's picture

    http://www.examiner.com/x-210

    http://www.examiner.com/x-21058-Cleveland-Celebrity-Headlines-Examiner~y2009m11d17-Dakota-Fanning-talks-about-kissing-Kristen-Stewart-in-The-Runaways-video

     

    Dakota Fanning about kissing Kristen Stewart

    Sade's picture

    http://hollywoodcrush.mtv.com

    MistressPearl's picture

    Ya know, I was kicking

    Ya know, I was kicking myself (call it idol worship and the fact that I was shaking head to toe) after I talked to Lita Ford a few weeks ago before a show (while she was wallking her dogs) that I forgot to ask her about the Runaways movie. 

    It may not be a blockbuster, but it should get its fair share of kids going to see it with Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning and IF it is marketed and publicized right. I have a feeling that because KS is "hot" right now, coming off of the release of New Moon, the kids will be going to see it. And we might just have a resurgence of The Runaways music.

     

    "If you're not on the rocket, you're just sittin' on the fence." - Suzi Quatro Back to the Drive

    jam4's picture

    hell yeah!

    Amen! sister! that happens to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee tooooooooo!
    mind_numbing_pain's picture

    Team Jasper

    First thing I saw Kristen Stewart in was in a lifetime movie called Speak. The other movie I saw her in was In The Land of Women, I really loved her in that movie because she showed her range of emotions in it.

    I think she's a good actress and I don't mind the fact taht she shys away from the public. At least she doesn't come off as snobby to me the way Robert Pattinson does. She sounds more humbled by her success than anything else. 

     I wont be hitting the theaters to see New Moon because I don't want my ears to bleed from the massive squee coming from the fangirls when edward or jacob rip their shirts off. But I will eventually see the movie and I have no doubt she will be wonderful in it. 

    demiizdank's picture

    ive seen every film that she

    ive seen every film that she was featured in. and i think shes so different from any so called materialistic actresses. Even when she is acting as a whole different person, you can tell she still puts her enigmatic/awkward personality in the character. Which makes it so genuine and relatable to others to watch or even admire. And truthfully im more pumped to watch Kristen in The Runaways then Moonlight, cause shes super attractive and captivating. hell yesss. :) 
    carol's picture

    The Kristen-Factor

    Hi everyone,

    Concerning Kristen, I recently had the privilege of having a one-on-one interview with her and Taylor Lautner during their visit to Brazil in the New Moon media tour. I confess that before the interview, I had the impression she could be raspy and unimpressed with everyone and everything. I was totally wrong.

    She's just a smart girl (although she sometimes get trapped in her many thoughts about many things) who happens to be in a movie saga that became a worlwide consumer frenzy. She's very confident and whenever Taylor could't answer a question (he has trained answers to - almost - everything), she gently intervened just to say something that, in the end, would make him cooler that he actually was.

    And she completely got me off guard when I came in the room and she said: "nice shoes"...which means: she's a smart girl who knows how to break the ice. See her playing Joan Jett should be very interesting...

    http://lebiscoito.wordpress.com

    Emma 's picture

    You got to interview her?!!!

    You got to interview her?!!! I am super jealous. I bet those are your favourite shoes now, right?
    carol's picture

    Actually the shoes were a

    Actually the shoes were a gift from my wife...so there were my favourites already :)

    http://lebiscoito.wordpress.com

    clockers2's picture

    um

    i don't think she's lesbian.