Lynn Hirschberg: Everyone knows you as Bella Swan, the heroine of the Twilight series,
whose penultimate installment, Breaking Dawn Part 1, premieres on
November 18. What audiences may not know is that you’ve been acting
since you were a child. How did you get your start?
Kristen Stewart: It’s weird, because I would be the last person in my school to be in
plays, but I was forced to sing a song in a school thing. I sang a
dreidl song, which is funny for me. I’ve never celebrated Hanukkah—it
wasn’t in my upbringing, but it was one of those deals where everybody
has to pick a song or participate somehow in the chorus. It wasn’t the
normal dreidl song; I can’t really remember the words, but it was a more
serious dreidl song. The dreidl was huge, it was really honored. And
that’s how I met my agent, who was in the audience. I was eight. I was
nine when I did my first movie, The Safety of Objects.
Did you do any commercials, or did you go straight into films?
I did two commercials, one for Porsche, but I was definitely not the
type of child one would cast in a commercial or any TV that you’d
typically go out for as a young kid. I wasn’t the type of kid who would
be in stuff that kids watch. I wasn’t cutesy.
In 1999 David Fincher cast you as Jodie Foster’s daughter in Panic Room.
He likes to do dozens of takes for each scene. Was that difficult, as a
child?
I didn’t realize that 80 takes wasn’t normal. But it’s funny: Some of my
proudest moments from film sets are in Panic Room. My character had
seizures. Just being able to say, I was 10 years old and I broke all the
blood vessels in my eye on that take, is cool. It was fun.
You had a tomboy quality, which was unusual.
I have brothers, and that so-called boyish quality was something that I
was deathly self-conscious about when I was younger. I was, like, No,
I’m a girl. Actually, I’m still embarrassed to say that.
But it sets you apart from other young actresses. And it made you more
interesting.
I don’t really know what to say. I just knew I wanted to work. And I
did. I was working when I read the script for Twilight. I read the
script before I read the book. I actually did the audition before
reading the book, which was kind of crazy. Obviously, I tore all four
books apart over the course of three years, but initially I had no idea
that Twilight was such a big deal.
Did you have a particular interest in vampires? All young girls like
vampires.
I fucking love me a vampire [Laughs]. I was 17 when I read Twilight, and
at the time it was so perfect for me. The script was about young kids
who think they can handle stuff that they just can’t. And they’re going
to do it anyway. Because, why not? Just torture yourself. I relate to
that. Vampires are a little dangerous—and we girls like to test
ourselves.
