Actors say parts of the characters they play stay with them once the camera turns off. When they step into the role of someone who actually existed, it can get even more intense. For Kristen Stewart, portraying Princess Diana in the 2021 film Spencer, left an everlasting impression.
The psychological docudrama reimagined Christmas 1991, as Diana quietly unravels inside the royal family while her marriage to Prince Charles is effectively over. In an interview with The Telegraph, Stewart said she felt “haunted” by the late Princess of Wales – “I still am,” she admitted.
She’s never far from her mind, especially when she’s in Europe. “I can’t drive around this city, and Paris for that matter, without thinking about her.” “All the love that poured out of this woman,” Stewart said, adding that she can cry about her at “any moment.”
© Tim GrahamThe Twilight star also admitted that she didn’t think she was the right person to be cast at first. She even told the film’s director, Pablo Larraín, that he was “insane” for choosing her. “I told Pablo he was insane, and he should probably hire someone else, but he refused to accept that,” she said.
She pointed to their “massive distinctions,” such as Diana’s statuesque presence and her famously blue eyes, which matched her iconic sapphire ring.
Stewart joked, “Should we make the engagement ring green, then?” She admitted the details were “pulling” her under, but Larraín insisted, “You really must detach from those things – this is about spirit.”
© Tim GrahamLarraín saw overlap in their lived experiences, too: the relentless scrutiny, the sense of being consumed by public attention. Something that Stewart could relate to. When Twilight was at its peak, paparazzi surrounded her, and headlines about her personal life were everywhere.
The public attention is what would literally kill Diana. As Stewart worded it, she was “plucked, plucked to death” by paparazzi, and her rebelliousness felt “so desperate, and so young and so vulnerable.”
By the time filming wrapped, the Love Me star said she felt “a bit like a shell.” “I think she did, too. That was the point,” she added.
© IMDbStewart has said in the past that playing Princess Diana was one of the toughest things she’s ever done, but also one of the most rewarding. “I took more pleasure in my physicality making this movie than I have on anything,” she said at the 2021 Venice Film Festival. “I felt more free and alive and able to move — and taller, even.”
Plus, the work and energy paid off. Stewart’s performance was widely praised and earned her a Best Actress nomination at the Academy Awards in 2022, marking a major moment in her post-Twilight career.
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