Cinema interview: Kristen Talks about Eclipse

Kristen Stewart was an up and coming child star of such films as Panic Room and Zathura. However, all that would change overnight when she became the envy of millions of teenage girls when she became the face of Bella Swan in The Twilight Saga.

Since then, Stewart has become one of the most popular young actresses in Hollywood today and has continued to build on that with critically acclaimed roles in films like Adventureland and The Runaways. Now the 20 year-old returns as Bella in the latest film in the series, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

Kristen first talked about how Bella has to make a pivotal decision in her life in this particular film in the series.

“There’s definitely the conflict, in that she’s pushed to the point where the decision needs to be made in this one,” she says, “What’s cool is that things change and, as certain as she is sometimes, and as absolutely gung-ho, young, courageous and brave as she is, she’s also willing to take a step back and go, ‘Okay, I’m going to reconsider my options and reconsider how I’m treating everybody.’”

“She acknowledges that she’s being a little bit selfish,” Stewart adds, “She makes the choice. I feel like the choice has been made. As soon she sees Edward in the first film, it’s done, but it’s hard for her to get to point where everyone is going to accept that, and this is the film that it happens in.

Stewart also says that this pivotal change is part of a broader maturation of Bella’s character in Eclipse.

“She’s definitely making decisions for herself and not just going along with what Edward is saying she should do,” she says, “People instantly latch onto her being this weak, co-dependent girl that’s just in need all the time with this guy. That’s so not the case. I think if it were to be told from his perspective, that he would be just as vulnerable and needy as her.”

“It’s told from her mind, though, so obviously those things are going to be more inherent,” Kristen says, “I think she’s definitely owning up to things that have gone down that have been both good and bad. She can reap the benefits from the things that she’s dealt with, in a good way, and also make the relationships in her life stronger, based on the mistakes that she’s made. Everyone in the family is looking at her differently now, like, ‘Oh, maybe she does know what she wants. Maybe she’s not acting so immature and crazy.’”

Kristen shared with us the most challenging scene she did for the film.

“The action is absolutely everybody else’s responsibility,” Stewart says, “I just stand behind the people who are stronger than me. I didn’t get to run around as much as I did in the second movie, so the action wasn’t difficult. One of the most challenging scenes would probably be kissing Jacob for real, finally for the first time, and seeing that there was a different road to go down that was desirable as well. She’s got such tunnel vision that Edward is the only thing for her. That’s a strange perspective. Then, I have to go in and talk to Edward about it, and it’s such a different dynamic than we’ve ever had.”

“It was a different Bella,” she continues, “I had never had to play somebody who would’ve done stuff like that, so that was hard, and I was nervous as hell. Just because of that moment and how different that kiss is to all of the rest of them, in that movie. It is the most unique moment. It’s also a mistake, and I always say that Bella makes a lot of mistakes and she’s willing to own them. I think it’s cool to see her a little bit ashamed and, at the same time, scared.”

One particularly unique aspect with this film franchise is it’s one of the few to have different directors with Catherine Hardwicke helming Twilight and Chris Weitz helming New Moon. Stewart discusses working with director David Slade this time around, who helms Eclipse.

“We’ve worked with the same D.P. (director of photography) for New Moon and Eclipse and I always ask him, ‘Hey, how close are you?’” Kristen reveals, “That’s something that David does intentionally. He doesn’t tell you stuff like that, which I completely understand because most actors are crazy and neurotic and don’t want to know the camera is up their nose.”

“I didn’t do anything differently though,” she adds, “You have to change a little bit, every time that you work with a new director, but it’s cool working with someone different on each one of these. I had to introduce my character to David. He met Bella through me. It was cool to let a new person into the fold. It was fun.”

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