Jose here. A couple of weeks ago, I went to the NYFF press screening of Clouds of Sils Maria. It was my second time seeing the film, and on that occasion I mostly showed up because I wanted to bask in the glory of its MVP ... Kristen Stewart.
As I sat there, observing the lithe actress, taking pictures of her and giggling and blushing at her responses - as if she was answering them just for me - I realized I had a crush. I swooned when Juliette Binoche called her "a genius". If you had told me I’d be feeling this way last month, I would have laughed in your face and explained I wasn’t a TwiFan. Or blind. After all, Stewart has made herself a reputation for being one of the worst young actresses, who does nothing but exploit her expression-less or annoyed looks that are meant to be interpreted as undying devotion to a glow-in-the-day vampire.
Then, in a little two-punch move, my entire perception of her changed forever.
I went into Clouds of Sils Maria expecting Binoche to swallow K.Stew and Chloë Grace Moretz alive, Margo Channing-style. Instead, perhaps unsurprisingly, the great French actress turns in one of her most generous performances allowing the younger women to steal it.
Moretz is serviceable (and does an uncanny J.Law impression), but Stewart is a revelation. Doing little to alter her appearance (her glasses don’t “uglify” her, but contribute to informing her personality and despite being a real life Chanel spokeswoman she always wears jeans, boots and hoodies) she brings complete self-awareness to a part that has her walk in the shoes of the people who have helped her as an actress: personal assistants. “I wanted to play something I’d observed, but not been” she explained at the NYFF press conference. She smokes, she laughs, she rolls her eyes in typical K.Stew fashion, but she exudes a warmth the likes of which we rarely see onscreen.
Olivier Assayas gives her the opportunity to bite into a character that feels and looks like K.Stew, but has little to do with what we think of her through her awkward interviews and disinterest at red carpets. Her mano-a-mano with Binoche is exemplary, because she doesn’t hide the fact that she’s in awe of the older woman, her blushes and implosive tantrums are understandable.
In the film’s best scene, both characters attend a 3D fantasy movie, followed by a discussion about whether genre films can be good. Binoche’s character rolls her eyes and accuses the film of shallowness, Stewart’s affirms “[you don’t like it] just because it takes place on a spaceship. If it was set in an assembly line or a farm, you’d love it!” I’ve yet to hear a better defense of comic book movies which are often disregarded by snobby cinephiles...that it’s delivered by Bella Swan herself, without a hint of irony, is just a stroke of genius.
Stewart didn’t put all her eggs in the Assayas basket though, and also starred in Camp X-Ray, an intimate film in which she plays opposite Peyman Moaadi of A Separation. He plays a Guantanamo Bay prisoner, she plays the guard who befriends him. An acutely observed film, that never follows the path you’re expecting it to go on, it’s a magnificent showcase for Stewart, whose face lights up the screen, and who with very little dialogue conveys entire emotional worlds, that make her seem like a lost Gish clan descendant. I spoke to director Peter Sattler whose eyes glowed with glee as he talked about Kristen, “when you catch Kristen and she’s really feeling a moment and you capture that on film it is the most magical thing on earth. It is like capturing lightning in a bottle!” he said (you can read the interview here).
And he’s right. My newfound adoration for Stewart was unexpected but not very surprising, as I tend to be quite lenient when it comes to “forgiving” actresses for their past sins.
Perhaps I’m just greedy for more actresses to love?
However it has truly made me wonder if indeed bad projects have been keeping us from relishing in the real talent of actresses we normally disregard. Could the Jessicas (Biel and Alba) perhaps be as brilliant as Chastain under the right direction? Does Megan Fox have the ability to use her extreme sensuality in the same ways Angelina Jolie has mastered hers? Could it be that TwiFans were right all along? Was I being too Binoche in Sils Maria and neglecting to see any worth in the vampire flicks?
While we wait for those answers, I’ll keep on enjoying my K.Stew crush and brace myself for more, because as Nathaniel pointed out when I pitched this confession, I haven’t seen Still Alice yet…
What actresses have you found yourself loving after swearing that they were no good?