In the meantime, you can see her in a startlingly different role
in The Cake Eaters, directed by Mary Stuart Masterson. Stewart
plays a teenager afflicted with Fredriech's Araxia, a terminal disease
of the nervous system for which there is no cure.
She'll also star in the Joan Jett biopic The Runaways. Stewart
is hoping that the notoriety she's gained from Twilight will
draw fans to her upcoming films.
Q: You met some girls who suffer from this terminal illness. What
did you take away from that?
A: Not to sound totally cliché about a disease movie, but all
the girls I met have a resistance to any sort of patronizing and any
box that you want to put them in. It's overwhelmingly inspiring to
meet them. It's about not letting your life end. To them it's like
they're different and so they're going to have to live a different
life. But it can still be great. I could identify with that.
Q: Your character is very outspoken. Are you like that?
A: Georgia is all about the truth. She really calls everything by
its right name. She's very honest. I'm honest but I don't think I
have as much to say as she does. But I'm free with my words when I
believe in something, I guess.
Related: Take the ultimate Twilight quiz!
Q: Were you shocked when Catherine Hardwicke was replaced as director
of the next Twilight movie?
A: It wasn't like it was a big bomb that was dropped. It wasn't such
a shock. To be honest, I don't know about the inner workings of whatever
was going on within the studio. But everybody has creative integrity
and everybody has to be on the same page when you're making a movie.
And in this case, Catherine and Summit just agreed that it was the
best thing to do for her to move on. It wasn't like, 'You're fired!'
Q: The Twilight DVD is coming out soon. There is a lot of
curiosity. What can we expect?
A: We did an audio commentary. And I can't wait for everyone to see
it. Literally, there wasn't a day that went by that we didn't have
camera crews on set, so I'm sure that they have hours of footage to
cut together for the eager audience.
Related: Exclusive video interview with Kristen Stewart and Rob Pattinson
Q: Talk about systems overload, in the midst of filming the next
two Twilight movies, we hear you're also going to be starring
as Joan Jett in The Runaways?
A: Yes. We'll be shutting down for eight weeks in between New
Moon and Eclipse and that's when I'll do it. Right now
I'm just listening to Joan's music all the time. I spent New Year's
with her.
Q: Everyone wants to know what she's like.
A: She's so cool, one of the nicest, most soulful women I've ever
met. And so many people love and admire her. It's an immense responsibility
to play a real person, one of the most intimidating things that I've
ever had to confront. Her story is an incredibly triumphant, feminist
story. The main thing that Joan talked about was just how much she
cared about the days when she was a teenager and started singing with
The Runaways. She told me that the band was what started
her entire life.
Q: Will you be singing or lip-syncing her songs?
A: I don't want to speak out of place. I really hope to be able to
actually perform the music, but I just don't know yet. Hopefully I'll
be able to tell you guys soon.
Q: Like some of the characters you've played, have you had problems
coping with your teen years?
A: I don't think so. I have sort of a picture perfect family. My parents
are awesome and my brothers are like my best friends. But you change.
You're so yourself when you're a little kid, and then you turn 13
and all of a sudden you are concerned about what you look like and
you have all these insecurities. But, then, after you go through the
different stages there's like a sort of triumphant, 'I'm done with
that, and I'm becoming who I am.' That's where I am now, I think.