(Video) #TIFF12 Interview Kristen Stewart reveals preparation for 'On the Road' with @etalkCTV

Stewart told CTV’s Canada AM that she was eager to get inside the head of Marylou, the perceptive and sexually adventurous wife of womanizer Dean Moriarty. The characters are loosely based on Kerouac’s actual friends Luanne Henderson and Neal Cassady.

But Stewart says she had difficulty finding information about Marylou or the woman that inspired the character.

Marylou is plainly described as a blonde from Colorado in “On the Road,” and an Internet search for Luanne Henderson produces a few old pictures -- not enough material for Stewart to “dig deep” as she had hoped.

"I was like ‘God I need to know more about this, the woman behind the character,’” said Stewart. “She is sort of, in the book, fairly on the outskirts of things. You don’t know what’s going on inside of her all the time.”

To better understand the woman that inspired Marylou, Stewart spent time with Henderson’s daughter, an experience she called “incredible.”

Stewart said meeting with Henderson’s daughter made all the difference and helped her better portray the “vivid, really interesting, colourful, magic” character of Marylou.

“You sort of feel like you’re helping tell their story with them, rather than doing a story about them and then hoping they’ll like it,” she said.

Stewart spent time in Toronto earlier last week promoting the much-hyped film by hitting the red carpet with her co-stars at the city’s annual film festival.

Stewart’s appearance at the Toronto International Film Festival comes after the actress was caught having an affair with her “Snow White and the Huntsman” director Rupert Sanders. The dalliance resulted in a public apology and a break-up with “Twilight” co-star Robert Pattinson.

Braving the glare of cameras once again, Stewart hit the red carpet last week to sign autographs for fans outside Ryerson University’s theatre in Toronto. She wore her hair pulled back and sported a black translucent dress with floral detailing.

A few days later the star was spotted visiting Soho House, an unfinished private members club, with “Hunger Games” star Jennifer Lawrence.

Stewart left Toronto over the weekend and was spotted at Pearson International Airport wearing a Baltimore Orioles baseball cap. Some suspect the hat might belong to Pattinson -- resurrecting gossip about the pair’s troubled relationship.