Kristen Stewart is receiving major Best Actress buzz for her performance as Princess Diana in the new drama “Spencer”. NEON is releasing the film in theaters on Thursday November 4th.
As a younger actress, Stewart had roles in “Panic Room”, “Catch That Kid”, “Zathura”, “The Messengers” and “Into the Wild”. But her career skyrocketed in late 2008 with her first appearance as Bella Swan in “Twilight”. Co-stars Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner also quickly became household names.
Four more “Twilight” installments followed from 2009-2012. In between those, Stewart co-starred with Jesse Eisenberg in “Adventureland” (they would re-team for 2015’s awful “American Ultra”). She also played Joan Jett in indie “The Runaways” and took-on the title heroine in “Snow White and the Huntsman”, one of the biggest (pleasant) surprises of 2012.
Stewart showed a different, more dramatic side in 2014’s “Still Alice”, opposite Julianne Moore (who won the Best Actress Academy Award for her performance). It’s here when I began to notice that Stewart could offer more range and depth on screen. And while I didn’t see much of that in “Cafe Society” or “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” (both 2016), it returned in early 2020.
“Underwater”, one of the last true 20th Century Fox releases, saw Stewart bring a surprising amount of authentic emotional intensity to her lead character, Norah Price. She elevated the overall experience of “Underwater”, which was not a traditional “lame, bury it in January” action movie. I caught-up on “Seberg” in Fall 2020. Stewart once again took some chances and delivered another effective performance, this time as actress Jean Seberg. Rom-com “Happiest Season” (released on Hulu last holiday season) didn’t work for me, though Stewart’s scenes with Aubrey Plaza were the (only) highlights.
With “Spencer”, Stewart is getting the biggest non-“Twilight” attention of her life. Will it translate into awards season success? Nominations from major awards groups are just around the corner.