Kristen Stewart's
New Moon
by Lynn Barker
 Let's catch you up. If you are a fan, you know the drill. Both Edward (Rob Pattinson) and Jacob (Taylor Lautner) are in love with Bella (Kristen Stewart) and both will do almost anything to protect her from their dangerous lifestyles as vampire and werewolf. Bella, being a normal, red-blooded girl, is attracted to both although her true, bonded love will always be Edward (sorry Team Jacob).
In New Moon, the second installment of the "Twilight" saga, Edward is so afraid of hurting Bella that he almost kills her by leaving her! Jacob fills the horrible void in her life with friendship and, he hopes, more. Bella becomes an adrenalin junkie when she discovers that doing dangerous things brings Edward's warning voice to her side and, in the film version, she sees smoky visions of him as well.
Vicious, vindictive Victoria is on the prowl to kill Bella and when Edward mistakenly thinks Bella has died, he wants to sacrifice his own immortality by letting the top gurus on the vampire pyramid, the Volturi, kill him. It's Bella and Alice to the rescue!
We got to sit down with the busy Kristen Stewart, now sporting her short, spiky, very dark Joan Jett "do", black tennies, black skinny jeans and a dressy, black suit jacket with satin lapels over a dark gray tee with a fir tree stencil on it from Vancouver. Her make-up was the total opposite of the much less bold, understated look from last year's Twilight interview. Kristen looked sexy/hot in dark, smoky eye make-up and seriously blood-red lips! We talked everything from Taylor to Rob to her biggest acting challenges in this film when Bella has a melt-down.
AGW: Taylor Lautner is emerging from this movie as a huge star and obviously the books ordain how the movie will unfold, but if you could wipe the slate clean and make a decision, do you really think that she wouldn't have gone with fine, ole Jacob?
Kristen: I know, trust me. I'm feeling you completely. I think that that controversy has probably been made bigger than it was. We needed to be sure that whoever played Jacob was going to be Jacob in New Moon. He's such a different person. He becomes a man. It's not just a physical transformation. He becomes an adult. I always knew that Taylor could do that. We just needed to make sure because it was so important. So, once he actually proved himself, which wasn't hard to do, even seeing him walk around on set was a different experience. He's literally become a different person. He's just grown up. He's so confident and the nicest guy I've ever met. And, I know I'm using this grammatically incorrect but he's the funnest guy I've hung out with. He's great. I'm so proud of him.
AGW: This has been so intense for you with one film after the other. Can you talk about that?
Kristen: There's already a lot of stuff where I've got to say 'okay, Kristen be here. Experience this. Make sure this isn't another fleeting situation that you're going to barely remember'. You have to force yourself to be present. But, I feel like the fact that I have to opportunity to pick and choose moments that I want to remember and focus on remembering cool moments. That only tells you that I have an influx of them. I've had the coolest two years. I'm so lucky.
AGW: A year ago when we talked to you, you were such a shy, sensitive young actor. What has this last year been like for you in terms of a non-stop publicity barrage, all this stuff about Rob?
Kristen: I think I've gotten a lot more comfortable with talking about myself and knowing that what you say, people are really going to take into consideration and that always intimidated me so much. I couldn't finish a sentence because I was so concerned about how it was going to sound and I didn't want to come across insincere about something that I really love to do. So, I realized that instead or refraining from saying things, I should have said "I put my heart and soul into this thing and I love it" instead of the really logical, over-analytical reason why I love it. I've gotten more comfortable with it.
The whole rumor/tabloid stuff, it's so false and mean. Even before I became a part of it, and was sort of a star, it's like a ridiculous show.
AGW: A soap opera?
Kristen: Exactly, with false realism. Like a soap opera that seems real but you're not quite sure. It doesn't bother me. I don't take it personally so luckily, because I've had so much experience, it's gotten easier to talk about the work.
AGW: What about the work on New Moon?
Kristen: I had a really good time on this movie. It was really intense just because of the nature of the story. It goes in a completely different direction. We undermine the first. We establish a very idealistic idea of love and basically we tell our main protagonist that she was wrong. Where is our story going to be left if Edward's not there? What I really love about New Moon is you really see this girl build herself back up and by the time she makes this rash decision to spend eternity with a vampire, she's in a position that you actually believe it. You are old enough, you are mature enough to know. You've lived life. she grows up.
 AGW: Did you actually get to ride the motorcycle and, if so, were you into it?
Kristen: I'm definitely never gonna be a biker. The idea of riding.. I'm scared of cars so the idea of riding a motorcycle is never going to be something that I'm into. I was towed ridiculously. I was on the back of this truck and I probably looked funny doing it. Taylor rode motorcycles really well. There is this one part that's undeniably him. He rides up and skids. I left that to him. I wasn't about to do that. I don't think they would let me necessarily. They have more faith in Taylor to do that?
AGW: Would you ride on the back with a guy though?
Kristen: Yeah. I did that and I didn't like it. It's so precarious. It literally feels like you're gonna fly off of it! I'm not into that.
AGW: What do you find the most rewarding about doing this saga?
Kristen: I think my favorite thing about this is I can keep it personal and it's still something that, if this saga didn't become a franchise and the serious of movies that I had done, they would mean just as much to me? The fact that so many people are effected by it and invested in it just as much as me if not more, that only makes it more (rewarding?). Like I said about Chris, if you don't like people and you don't want to make movies because you care about people, then you'd probably just start wanting to be rich and famous. So, the fact that this is so important to so many people, makes me so happy. I think that's it.
AGW: Having such an avid fanbase, how do you draw the line when people want to know so much about your private life?
Kristen: I don't know. I don't anybody can get a handle on it. As soon as I stopped trying to control everything that came out of my mouth and every picture that came out, that's when I became so much happier and it was so much easier to deal with. It wasn't like it was a turning point. I've just grown into being able to not care as much and to not think that I'm gonna be able to plan out how everybody perceives me. There are no false impressions. Everybody's impression of you is always gonna be what it is in that isolated moment. It's people not considering where you are in that moment when you give that impression. I'm gonna own what I'm gonna own. (she fumbles some words). I should just stop trying to control what's coming out of my mouth. I'm always going to keep what's important to me, mine and people are always gonna want (more), and I completely understand considering that we're playing characters that are so coveted by so many people. I get why they want to know more about us and they want us to be together and all of that. I just have to sort of not think about it.
AGW: How was doing the very emotional scene when Edward breaks up with her? There were girls crying in our audience.
Kristen: Oh, that's good (laughter). That was the scariest thing I've ever (done). I was almost more worried about messing it up than I was about what I actually should have been thinking about which was the issues that Bella's dealing with. Reading it, it's such an iconic moment. There's nothing like it in reality even. It's not like a normal break up scene. I know what it's like to get broken up with but I don't know what it's like to get broken up with by a vampire who I've now been physically and chemically altered by. Suddenly you take an addict and take whatever they're addicted to away from them. There's withdrawal. That was the most intimidating scene in the entire movie and I don't know how to explain how I did it. Chris really helped me out. It was just about talking to him and reading the book. It was so overwhelming. I had no other actors to play off. The break up scene that I did with Rob, that's not where it happens yet. That's not what I was intimidated by. She doesn't even believe it yet. It's when he goes. It's the absence of him that I was scared of. How am I by myself, in the woods with a hundred guys standing around filming me, going to die? Basically literally have the equivalent of a death scene but stay alive, get up and keep walking? It was hard. I was really intimidated. I've seen the movie. I really like the movie. I don't know if anybody ever would have been able to bring that to life the way Stephenie (Meyer) writes it.
AGW: What were some of the other challenges?
Kristen: This for me was the most emotionally conflicted (film). Bella is so sure all of the time. And this is the one movie where she actually is baffled and totally like 'I don't know'. It's weird to play Bella like that because she's so not like that. That was difficult. I can't think of a particular scene. It was really hard to go back and forth because you don't shoot a movie in sequence, I had to do stuff with Jacob where I was alive and happy and out of this depression thing and then, after lunch, go back and scream in my bed for six hours. That was difficult.
AGW: The scene with Victoria is really harrowing. I wondered what it is like to work with Bryce Dallas Howard (On Eclipse) in that role?
Kristen: Really good. Bryce is scary. She's really oddly sweet as well so it's funny to see her switch back and forth. But Victoria, for Bella, is an ever-present fear. Even when Victoria's not around, she's scared that she's coming back. Bryce is such a good actress that it was easy to be scared of her.
AGW: How was working with director Chris Weitz?
Kristen: Chris has everything. I think, to be a good director, you have to be a good person and you have to care about people and I don't an any more compassionate human being. I couldn't have done this unless I had such a believable environment, a comfortable, safe environment to be so vulnerable in and he provided that tenfold. He's one of the coolest guys, smartest, funniest guys. And, he really likes the project as well. He wasn't just jumping on the next big thing so it wasn't about breaking him in at all. He made everything what it is. He's incredible. I love him.
AGW: Didn't he give everyone some kind of guidebook for the film?
Kristen: Chris did a very different thing that I've never had a director do. He put together a syllabus of what we were supposed to achieve and how he was going to make it easier for everyone; sort of an introduction to how he likes to work. It didn't only introduce the idea of collaboration, it was inviting everyone onto this project and saying, 'please everyone love it and everyone be invested and work hard, because we're all here to work'. It was very encouraging. It also had technical aspects of how he was so sorry that so much of the movie was gonna be CGI stuff that we'd have to react to but he was always going to make us aware of what we were acting with and it was never going to leave us high and dry. A lot of effects movies, you don't know what you're reacting to. So, he had a full rundown of how he planned on making the movie. Most directors are like 'have you put together notes for our meeting?' 'Uh, no. That's your job'. So he's amazing. I love him.
AGW: What is it like to shoot in Vancouver? Is it like home? Do you have favorite hangouts?
Kristen: I love Vancouver. When we're doing the Twilight series there, I don't get to go out as much as I'd like to. I'm also sort of a boring person. I don't go out to the bars and stuff unless it's an event. It's a beautiful place to be. I just like being outside there. I don't have favorite spots. It's the climate. It's so different from what I'm used to.
 AGW: How did being in Italy effect the romance for your character?
Kristen: The fact that we didn't have to be on a set and we were really in Italy, made it so much easier to really immerse yourself in this world. It was so cool that we got to go to Italy and we didn't have to fake it. I think it really did add, I'm taking Chris's words right now, a "scope" to the film that wouldn't otherwise be there. To go from Forks to Italy, is such a stark contrast and romantic just in the idea of it. So to actually be there and feel it, it of course only helps to have the real environment.
AGW: What is the craziest moment you've had with fans since starting this?
Kristen: The funniest thing in the world just happened to me in Brazil. I've had a lot of really varying experiences, some absolutely touching and overwhelming and daunting and some just like crazy. Then sometimes they're really funny. I was in Brazil and me and Taylor went to Latin America this time and Rob was in Japan. That's just how it goes sometimes. We're sent all over and it means nothing who we're with. This guy was chasing after us. There was a huge crowd anyway, but this one very persistent fella was like, 'Where is Ho-bert? Where is Ho-bert'? I couldn't stop laughing and I felt really bad because he was distraught and emotional and I was like, 'It's just Ro-bert.' It was really funny. I found that funny. Sometimes you get letters that are sort of reassuring. It's funny when you can actually relate to the fans on a human level and it happens all the time. People assume that's impossible. So when that happens it's the coolest thing.
AGW: Anything scary happen?
Kristen: Scary? No. I'm scared of crowds but individually no, of course not. Just personally I'm sort of intimidated by a lot of people.
AGW: When it was announced that Chris Weitz was going to direct, Stephenie Meyer was quoted as saying, 'Let’s see how a man does with the movie.' Did you have any trepidation when Catherine Hardwicke departed? Also, do you see Bella as a role model for young women?
Kristen: I think that Bella is such a good character for girls, not to look up to because it's not looking up. She's normal. I think the most typically relatable thing is that she's awesome and she doesn't know it and she's very confident but also not arrogant. It's a weird thing to be. I think she also has a lot of really innately female qualities that for a character in literature I think it's awesome that so many girls can look up to her because she's fickle and unabashedly. It's like, 'I'm allowed to make mistakes and I'm going to do it and I'm going to do it right now and I'm not going to be ashamed of it.' Bella is very much like that. I think she is a good example for a young girl.
I think the director thing, everyone is different. I'm not smart enough to sit here and analyze whether or not a female would've been more in touch. Both characters that the protagonist deals with are men. Everyone approaches relationships differently and I can't really think of an answer.
AGW: You say Bella is a good role model for young girls, and yet she seems willing to sacrifice everything for Edward. She gets depressed about a love affair and becomes an adrenaline junkie who's trying to kill herself in a way. Aren’t you worried about twelve or thirteen-year-old girls watching this and getting ideas?
Kristen: It's a very extreme story. I think people who take to this story need to be a little bit more mature than that. I think the only reason that they take to it is because they are. The only way that I can justify that, and maybe I'm an immature girl as well, I really feel like if you feel like you need to do it, then you need to do it and ‘it’ being anything. Then after you're told that you've made a mistake and that you're wrong, if you're willing to say that you made a mistake and 'I was wrong and I'm gonna try the next thing', there's nothing to be ashamed of there at all. Be extreme. Go for it! I think that's the point. I know this is a movie about immortality but you live once. I'm also not preaching to anyone. I'm just standing behind the story. That's what I think.
AGW: Do appreciate it when fans want to relate to you as Bella? How do you handle that?
Kristen: I totally understand why people have a hard time separating ourselves from our characters. It's also just sort of the way our world is going. People are obsessed. There's an incredibly large group of people that spend most of their time considering other people's lives. It's strange to me. Like I said, I can't have anything to do with it or else I step in and mess it up for myself and I can't even
do it in a way that's complete. I just let it sort of fall by the wayside and it doesn't really affect me.
AGW: You've talked about trying to live in the moment and enjoying it. Is there a memory from the set that you'll always take with you?
Kristen: The one moment that really [stands out], throughout the filming of New Moon, [was when] we wrapped in Italy. The last thing that I did I was running through a square through a bunch of people just around this corner, one little part of that montage where I'm running through there. There were so many people around and there was so much energy. You could feel everyone was expecting the done date. we were almost finished. I can't turn off. I need to be fully and completely on up until that very last moment. I remember the second that we wrapped. I said at Comic-Con that my favorite moment of New Moon was when we wrapped and people took it the wrong way. It wasn't like I was so glad to be done. It was the most memorable moment for me because I literally fell apart. I literally went [gasps]. I almost couldn't handle it. It was one of the coolest experiences I've had on a movie so far. Chris was there and it was something that we had together really. I just felt really good and that's the most memorable experience.
 AGW: How do you relate to the idea of being immortal?
Kristen: How do you relate to that? I can only relate to that as Bella can because she is still human. I think that's an interesting question for any one of the vampires because they actually [deal with that]. The way that I consider immortality from both my perspective as Kristen and my perspective as Bella is that it's so completely unknown, but that, given the right motivating factor, I'd be willing to explore it. She's very willing to acknowledge that she doesn't know but that she's willing to give it a chance because of Edward because she's willing to sacrifice anything for him basically. A big thing for Bella is change. She's so terrified of change because she's been thrust into this world. It's not a necessarily very healthy way of looking at things because nothing is going away. I should be at work right now talking to Chris. This is ridiculous [laughter]. Basically if you're facing something that is completely unknown but you're willing to take everything that is hard about it because of what you might get, that's hope. That's why we get up everyday. Immortality is almost more scary in our story than mortality. To live forever seems on the surface like a really cool thing, but in our story it's terrifying and in our story that means taking your soul or at least it does to Edward. Like the lines of personal belief and theology and your faith, what you think is going to happen after you die, these are all things that we think about incessantly in the movie and things that Edward and Bella even argue about. I know that was really everywhere, but there you go [she whistles like it all went over our heads].
AGW: How attached have you become to Bella since starting this project?
Kristen: I'm very protective of her. I feel a shared ownership. It's weird. If you were to talk about the character in a way that was not at all thought out or flippant, I would be right there to say that you didn't know what you were talking about. I'm so defensive of her. So, yeah, I like her a lot. I think I can just say yes.
AGW: Can you talk about any moments that stand out about making the next movie Eclipse and what is the third director like?
Kristen: Yeah, Eclipse is such that, just like New Moon, it sort of starts and becomes a completely different movie. Just as soon as you think you're going to get the same story, all of a sudden it completely changes. Bella is much more back to herself. She's content now. She's again comfortable and self-assured in a way that she wasn't in New Moon. I think what I really love about Eclipse, what was interesting for me to explore, was different levels of love and acknowledging that the ideals that you maybe had a little while ago aren't true. Bella is innately honest. That's something that I feel she is. In Eclipse she lies to herself and she lies to everyone around her about the fact that she's in love with Jacob, just not as much. It's not that extra thing that you can't really even describe. I loved watching the three of them. I loved playing with the three characters together. There's literally a scene where Edward and Jacob who are mortal enemies, are in a tent with a sleeping Bella in between them. It's a ridiculous circumstance to find yourself in. We had so much to work with. Then the effects as well were even more. There's a big battle that happens and that was more than anything we had to deal with on New Moon. So it was cool. I've always gotten to do things for really short periods of time. To follow a character this long, it surprises me every time. I can't wait to do the fourth one because I'm sure that I'm going to come in and say that everything I said next year and everything I said this time was wrong, that I actually know Bella more now. And also, we have such established dynamics. The way that I know Bella deals with Edward, you sort of can't mess with that. I know how she deals with him. I know how she deals with Jacob. I know how she deals with Charlie, her dad, and then to have people come in and help out that process is only cooler. You always get a different perspective. So working with David [Slade] was like, 'Okay, let’s see what you've got,' because he came up with a lot of stuff that I would've never have thought of and he's quite good at the whole technical aspect of movie making which is so completely over my head. So I got to feel safe that he had that handled and me and Rob and Taylor just sort of did our thing.
AGW: How did you balance playing someone who is so introverted like Bella and then playing a character like Joan Jett in The Runaways?
Kristen: I can only play characters that I feel like are real people in a complete way and in such a whole way that if I fake any aspect of it, I will have failed them and literally they're slaughtered. It's like these characters, they don't exist anymore unless I do it. So, in terms of approaching parts, thank God I don't have to do that. It just happens. I got to know Joan, not only as her now but I feel like through footage and just through the script and the story, everything. I feel like I got to know who she was in such a whole way that it's not about imitating, even though I was really concerned about details being right, like gestures and stuff. I really wanted to do a good impersonation but I also didn't want it to be imitation. I wanted it to be natural. Playing Joan Jett had nothing to do with Bella. It was a small period of time that I had to do it but it was an opportunity that I jumped on and it was going to go away [if I hadn't]. I would've liked more time but like I said about walking on set and seeing all the characters and Rob and Taylor, it's instantly easy to get right back into the right mindset. That's vague but what I do is so vague. Literally, what I do is so oddly ambiguous.
pictures
courtesy of and copyright Summit Entertainment, 2009 |
