When it comes to sudden stardom and dealing with fame, who better to turn to for life lessons than Kristen Stewart? After all, Stewart became an overnight sensation back in 2008 when the first Twilight film was released. She was suddenly thrust into the public eye and everyone wanted a piece of her. Who was she dating? Was it Robert Pattinson, or maybe Taylor Lautner? What did she do in her spare time? The press hounded her.
In The Hollywood Repoter’s Awards Chatter podcast Stewart opened up about the overwhelming and surreal attention Twilight brought and how she deals with fame. “I did Twilight when I was 17, it came out when I was 18 and my life was never even remotely the same,” As she continued filming the next four instalments the public’s fascination with her only intensified. She discovered that her work was no longer the media’s main focus, it became evident that her personal life was far more interesting and she lost a sense of anonymity.
All this resulted in “a huge lifestyle shift” which was not always easy to deal with. Despite the madness, Stewart admits that it wasn’t all bad. “A whole lot of other baggage — really heavy and really cool baggage — came along with it”. Instead of resenting her position and allowing it to swallow her whole, Stewart has learned to embrace it and turn it into something positive. She has since realised that it offers her an “epic opportunity to share things” of importance to her “with an epic amount of people”.
Something she does through passion projects such as Clouds of Sils Maria for which she became the first American actress to win a Cesar Award (France’s equivalent of the Oscar). Other indie projects include Adventureland, The Yellow Handkerchief, Welcome to the Rileys, The Runaways and Camp X-Ray. Stewart is, however, quick to underline that she doesn’t prefer smaller films over bigger blockbusters. It all comes down to whether or not she feels a connection to the project, and she reveals that she loved Twilight and Snow White and the Huntsman.
So what advice does she have for the latest actress to be propelled into the celebrity meat-grinder, Star Wars: The Force Awakens heroine Daisy Ridley? “Focus on the fact that you’re stoked ’cause you’re doing the work that you want to do. It’s literally mainly just about focusing on what makes you happy. And if losing your anonymity or whatever doesn’t make you happy, then focus on something else”. Wise words.
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