Transcript
Life after Bella
What will the future hold for Kristen Stewart now that she's saying goodbye to the role that made her a star?
At the start of her Twilight journey back in 2008, Kristen Stewart was still struggling to figure out how an indie actress like her could be happy in a mainstream film saga like this. "I just want to make sure Twilight's worth the ginormous attention it receives," said Stewart, who was then known for roles in critically acclaimed artsy movies like Into the Wild. "Everyone said this is a big-deal movie. But I hate when people celebrate before you have something to celebrate about." But these days, Stewart, 22, is more than happy to revel in the glory of the vampire epic. "It's the hugest compliment for people to call me the Twilight girl," she says, "I'm like, 'Please pigeonhole me!' That means I dit it right. It's thrown me into the greatest position I could ever possibly imagine." It's hard to argue with that. In the four years since the first Twilight movie premiered, Stewart has gone from being a virtually unknown supporting actress to becoming an international star. She's also evolved into a red carpet fashion icon: This year she was crowned "best dressed woman" by the U.K. edition of Glamour magazine, plus she signed on to be the face of Balenciaga's new fragrance. And to top things off, Forbes magazine just named her the highest-paid actress in Hollywood - she raked in $34.5 million between May 2011 and May 2012. She earned that title by embracing big-budget roles - like the lead in Snow White and the Huntsman - as well as remaining true to her indie roots with films like the upcoming On the Road. "Challenge is one of my favorite things in life," she says. "Now I'm allowed to challenge myself the way that I want to rather than falling into things. It's awesome."
And - thanks to Twilight - she's developed a loyal fan base, which has been willing to buy tickets to even her vampire-free films. "All these people created Snow White and the Huntsman Twitter handles and organized fansites, and the same things is happening with On the Road," says Variety's film editor Josh Dickey. Of course, all is not rosy with Stewart's fan clubs. The news that she had recently cheated on her boyfriend/costar/eternal Twihard heartthrob Robert Pattinson unleashed a lot of anti-Stewart vitriol in online forums and beyond. But Variety's Dickey doesn't think the scandal with ultimately have any long-term impact on Stewart's career. "Breaking Dawn is going to do fine no matter with happens," he says. "The problem is that the fans have idolized her as some sort of superhuman, she isn't. She has faults; she just a person. But the fans will come around."
If they do, it would be a fitting echo of Stewart's own change of heart regarding the film series her fans all love. In fact, Stewart is surprised by just how deeply her Twilight experience has touched her. "I've been obsessed with this thing," she says. "It's been such a personal experience, and there are people who identify with the things that I do. That shared energy is the coolest." And after that initial skepticism about being part of the saga, Stewart now credits her role as Bella for helping her have a professional epiphany. "You don't always have to just do an indie movie to feel like you're connected with it creatively," says Stewart. "You can do it on a bigger scale. It's changed my mind about that. You don't have to choose one road or another."
It's a wrap
Kristen Stewart admits she was nervous heading into filming Breaking Dawn Part 2 because of Bella's transformation into a vampire. "Human aspects are gone now," she says. That's why she was relieved that director Bill Condon was overseeing Twilight's wrap-up. "It's clearly made by someone who really likes [the saga]," she told Entertainment Weekly. Condon's familiarity with the story (he also directed Part 1) came in handy, given the enormity of the task. In Part 2 "we introduce 23 new vampires and have hundreds of extra Volturi," Condon pointed out. Plus there's the big finish: an epic fight scene. "It moves so quickly in the movie, but it took so long to film," said Stewart of the battle. "It's the end of our movie, and it's a big deal to really bring it to the high point it deserves."
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