Kristen Stewart
About
Biography
Biography
An exceptionally poised young film actress who exhibited an early knack for challenging roles as troubled adolescents, Kristen Stewart got her big break playing Jodie Foster's daughter in David Fincher's hot-wired thriller "Panic Room" (2002). As the teen's profile rose over the following years, Stewart consistently impressed audiences and critics alike with her realistic performances and her choice of projects, which began to echo Foster's early career by steering toward more demanding adult dramas versus family fare. She would go on to make her biggest splash as Bella Swan, the tortured teen in love with a vampire classmate in the pop cultural phenomenon "Twilight" (2008) as well as its subsequent sequels. Such was her appeal as this particular film heroine that she would develop a huge fan contingent and consequently become the subject of tabloid rumors regarding an off-screen love affair with her equally attractive co-star Robert Pattinson. Proving her fame was no "Twilight" fluke, the actress scored outside the vampire franchise as the sword-wielding heroine of the hit "Snow White and the Huntsman" (2012). Gracefully aging into adult roles as she reached her 20s, Stewart proved she was one of the more versatile young actresses of her generation with challenging roles in films like Olivier Assayas' "Clouds of Sil Maria" (2014) and "Personal Shopper" (2016) while also appearing in more high-profile films like the Julianne Moore drama "Still Alice" (2014) and Ang Lee's PTSD drama "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" (2016).
Born April 9, 1990, Kristen Stewart was raised in Los Angeles, where her father worked as a stage manager, producer and director on numerous television shows and her mother was a scriptwriter. Her performance in a grade school Christmas play caught the eye of a talent agent in the audience, so at the age of eight, Stewart began auditioning for film and television roles. She landed a bit role in the Disney Channel TV production "The Thirteenth Year" (1999) and snared a more substantial part two years later in Rose Troche's challenging independent drama "The Safety of Objects" (2001), in which she played the tomboyish daughter of troubled single mom Patricia Clarkson. Stewart found herself at the center of a major Hollywood production in 2002 when she was cast as the juvenile lead in David Fincher's "Panic Room." Despite the presence of such veteran actors as Jodie Foster - to whom the youngster bore a remarkable resemblance - Stewart held her own and delivered an assured performance that led some critics to compare her skills to Foster's early style.
In 2003, Stewart signed on to play the daughter of Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone in another suspenseful project, Mike Figgis' "Cold Creek Manor" (2003). Her next major role came with "Catch That Kid" (2004), a breezy, teen-friendly caper, with Stewart as a young mountain-climbing aficionado who orchestrates a high-tech bank robbery to pay for an operation for her gravely ill father. A minor hit with tweens, it allowed Stewart a chance to show a lighter side of her acting talents and finally showcase herself to family audiences. The same year, she appeared in the psychological drama "Undertow," which despite a cast led by Jamie Bell, Josh Lucas and Dermot Mulroney, received almost no theatrical play.
"Speak" (Showtime, 2005), based on the best-selling novel by Laurie Halse Anderson, gave Stewart the opportunity to play both dark and light in the same project. She portrayed a high school freshman who stops almost all verbal communication after being raped by an upperclassman, but retains a vivid and often sardonic running commentary in her head. She handled the complexities of the character with her customary skill and segued into Jon Favreau's space fantasy "Zathura" (2005), which, despite requiring her to remain in a state of suspended animation for part of the film, gave her a showcase for her comic skills. In 2006, Stewart starred in the Canadian feature "Fierce People," a drama by actor-director Griffin Dunne about a troubled masseuse (Diane Lane) who arranges for a better life for her teenage son and herself, with unfortunate results.
Stewart had a starring role in the moderately successful supernatural film "The Messengers" (2007), before her career began to soar with no less than 10 film releases in the subsequent two years. She starred opposite Meg Ryan and Adrian Brody in the comic drama "In the Land of Women" (2007), and gave a bold performance as a teenage commune dweller who falls for an idealistic young drifter (Emile Hirsch) in Sean Penn's critically-acclaimed "Into the Wild" (2007). In Mary Stuart Masterson's well-received directorial debut "The Cake Eaters" (2007), Stewart gave an excellent performance as a young woman with a debilitating disease, and in the Hollywood satire "What Just Happened?" (2008), she was memorable as the rebellious teenage daughter of a stressed-out studio executive (Robert De Niro).
In the fall of 2008, Stewart co-starred in the highly anticipated film adaptation of "Twilight," Stephenie Meyer's acclaimed novel about a teenage girl who falls in love with a handsome vampire. Finally featured in a youth-oriented mainstream release, Stewart earned legions of new fans through her work in the goth love story. The 18-year-old began to segue into young adult roles with the independent film offerings "Adventureland" (2009), a 1980s-set comedy where she played the potential love interest to a recent college grad (Jesse Eisenberg) forced to put his dream tour of Europe on hold in order to earn minimum wage at an amusement park. It was while working on the sequel "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" (2009) that rumors began swirling that the much beloved onscreen coupling of Stewart and her co-star Robert Pattinson was becoming a lovefest off set. Blogs and teenybopper magazines dissected every photograph and interview the two participated in, all in order to get to the bottom of the question at hand: was the couple dating? Neither officially said, but the furor only added more luster to the highly anticipated "Twilight" sequel.
While continuing to stay mum about her personal life, particularly in regard to her relationship with Pattison, Stewart ventured outside the "Twilight" universe to portray pioneering punk rocker Joan Jett in "The Runaways" (2010), an indie film about the famed all-girl rock band from the late 1970s. Stewart was singled out for her subtle performance as the icy tough Jett, imbuing her with touches of vulnerability that earned praise from critics. That same year, she again was front-and-center for the next installment to the series, "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" (2010), before playing an underage stripper who helps a married couple (James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo) reconcile after they have spent eight years adrift following their daughter's death in the indie drama "Welcome to the Rileys" (2010).
After "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1" (2011), Stewart starred in the revisionist take on the old fairy tale "Snow White & the Huntsman" (2012), a huge summer hit that proved she was capable of mega success outside of "Twilight." With "Breaking Dawn - Part 2" waiting to be released, Stewart was seen playing Marylou to Sam Riley's Sal Paradise and Garrett Hedlund's Dean Moriarty in the adaptation of Jack Kerouac's Beat Generation classic "On the Road" (2012). The actress uncharacteristically opened up to the press in the summer of 2012 by publicly confessing to cheating on Pattinson with her married "Snow White" director Rupert Sanders after incriminating pictures of them kissing were published in US magazine.
After saying goodbye to the "Twilight" saga with "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2" (2012), Stewart chose to stay below the radar for a period. She resurfaced with three well-received projects: the military drama "Camp X-Ray" (2014), French director Olivier Assayas' theatrical "Clouds of Sils Maria" (2014), and the Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland family drama "Still Alice" (2014), in which Stewart co-starred opposite Julianne Moore. Following a smaller role in Tim Blake Nelson's indie drama "Anesthesia" (2015), Stewart reunited with her "Adventureland" co-star Jesse Eisenberg for the action comedy "American Ultra" (2015). After starring in the science fiction romance "Equals" (2015), Woody Allen's "Café Society" (2016) and Kelly Reichardt's ensemble drama "Certain Women" (2016), Stewart reteamed with Assayas for the acclaimed psychological drama "Personal Shopper" (2016) and co-starred in Ang Lee's PTSD-themed war drama "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" (2016) and the Chloë Sevigny Lizzie Borden biopic "Lizzie" (2018). In 2018, Stewart was cast in Elizabeth Banks' upcoming "Charlie's Angels" reboot.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Life Events
2001
Made acting debut playing Patricia Clarkson's tomboy daughter in Rose Troche's "The Safety of Objects"
2002
Played Jodie Foster's diabetic daughter Sarah in David Fincher's psychological thriller "Panic Room"
2003
Played the daughter of a couple who unknowingly move into a haunted house in "Cold Creek Manor"
2004
Cast in Bart Freundlich's "Catch That Kid," a remake of the Danish blockbuster "Klatretosen" ("Catch That Girl," 2002)
2004
Delivered first leading role, as a traumatized high school freshman in "Speak"
2005
Starred in the Jon Favreau-directed adventure "Zathura"
2007
Cast in Sean Penn's adaptation of Jon Krakauer's best selling book "Into the Wild"
2007
Played Donald Sutherland's granddaughter in Griffin Dunne's "Fierce People"
2007
Played Meg Ryan's angst-ridden teenage daughter in Jonathan Kasdan's directorial debut "In the Land of Women"
2008
Played Robert De Niro's daughter in Barry Levinson's satirical comedy-drama "What Just Happened?"
2008
Cast as Bella Swan alongside Robert Pattinson in "Twilight," the feature adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's bestselling novel <i>Twilight</i>
2009
Reprised the role of Bella in the sequel "The Twilight Saga: New Moon"
2009
Co-starred with Jesse Eisenberg in Greg Mottola's '80s-set coming of age story "Adventureland"
2010
Reprised the role of Bella Swan opposite Robert Pattinson in "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"
2010
Played a 16-year-old stripper opposite James Gandolfini in "Welcome to the Rileys"
2010
Portrayed rocker Joan Jett in "The Runaways," a biopic from writer-director Floria Sigismondi
2011
Returned to the role of Bella Swan in "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1" from director Bill Condon
2012
Concluded the role of Bella in "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2," also directed by Bill Condon
2012
Co-starred in feature adaptation of Jack Kerouac's "On the Road"
2012
Made a voice cameo in mother Jules Stewart's directorial debut "K-11"
2012
Played the lead in adventure drama "Snow White and the Huntsman"
2014
Starred in Guantanamo Bay drama "Camp X-Ray"
2014
Co-starred opposite Juliette Binoche in drama "Clouds of Sils Maria"; became first American actress to win France's coveted Cesar award
2014
Co-starred opposite Julianne Moore in acclaimed drama "Still Alice"
2015
Played supporting role in Tim Blake Nelson's indie drama "Anasthesia"
2015
Reunited with Jesse Eisenberg in action comedy "American Ultra"
2016
Teamed with Eisenberg yet again in Woody Allen's "Café Society"
2016
Appeared in Ang Lee adaptation "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk"
2016
Gave an arresting performance in "Personal Shopper"
2018
Starred as Bridget Sullivan in Lizzie Borden biopic "Lizzie"
2018
Cast in Elizabeth Banks' "Charlie's Angels" remake
