Kristen Stewart: Bye, Bye Bella

By: Lynn Barker

In Beverly Hills, the cast of Breaking Dawn Part 2 joined press to put the Twilight Saga to bed. Missing were Peter Facinelli (Carlisle) and Ashley Greene (Alice) who were stuck in NYC due to the giant Sandy storm.  First up, let’s talk with Kristen Stewart who looked comfortable and casual in black pants and a cute blue and black-stripe sweater.

Q: What of Bella’s new powers as a vampire would you want?

• Kristen: I would love to be able to run that fast. That would be fun. We were really able to get close to most experiences that she has. We always wanted to push it as far as we could but then standing on a treadmill being dragged behind a truck in the woods is fairly ridiculous, and honestly that's one of my favorite parts of the entire series, is that first hunt. It was very frustrating, so (I wish) I could do stuff like that.

Q: Bella finally gets to macho up and kick major butt as a vamp in this final film. That had to be cool for you. Did you enjoy the stuntwork?

• Kristen: I broke my thumb maybe like the first or second day (she laughs) of our really intense action stuff, so that was really frustrating, but it was fun. I think I got a little taste of it when we were in Italy. The physicality was so important then and it finally became important again.  I think I have been on the sidelines for so long, and just itching, watching and going, 'God, I think I could do that pretty well. I think those contacts are going to look pretty cool,'  and so I was like bursting to do it, which I think is why I probably broke my thumb, I was a little bit over-zealous.

Q: Vampire envy?

• Kristen: Yeah, that's right.

Q:  Through all the movies, Bella is clumsy and very human. Now, she is like a tiger let out of a cage. How was making that transition for you?

• Kristen: I was really lucky to have played human Bella for so long. The best aspects of every vampire, all of their gifts, everything that makes them really special is always an enhanced version of what they were when they were human, so I really did get to play an incredibly well-rounded version of a vampire, just because I actually got to take those steps for real.  

If you were to take the fact that she becomes a vampire completely away, it is just a more realized version of who she has been the entire time.  I think it's why it touches so many people. It really does represent that stage of life where you are full and pumping, bubbling over with something that maybe you can't put your finger on. People kind of think she's nuts the entire time, Bella's always losing it, she's making very odd decisions and they're fully informed by her feelings. Now (in this film) it all makes sense and she can kind of stand up and go, 'Whew, I told you, it was worth it.  And we held on for a reason.' And it's really satisfying, really a lot of fun.  And it's also like breaking in a new car as well; it's like, “How fast does it go?”  

Q:  Did you keep any props or clothes from the films?

• Kristen: Yeah I kept the rings, the rings are really important to me. Her mother gives her a ring in the beginning and it fully and completely reminds me of Katherine Hardwick every time I look at it. (I kept) the engagement ring too. I held onto that one.  Other than that, (Bella’s) not really into stuff. There aren't a whole lot of props, so no, that was it, the rings.  But those are really extremely important to me, I love those things.

Q:  Rob was telling us about what the moment that he realized just how big the audience for this film series was in Munich when you stepped into the crowd of 30,000 people and they were going crazy. Was that the same moment for you or when did you realize how big this phenomenon was going to be?

• Kristen: It’s grown so much, even recently but Comic-Con for me was the first time I was ever hit with a wave of human energy (and I thought) ‘This is not a normal movie’. We always really approached Twilight, as something that felt so very much like our own and that first dose of sharing it with the (audience), (and realizing) that something that has really affected and moved you, does the same thing to other people was mindblowing.  After that it was like, 'Whoa, we are really going places!'  I was excited and it incredibly overwhelms admittedly, but, kind of the greatest part of the job is to be able to share that.  

Q:  You and Bella were the same age while you made the films. How did her journey parallel your own?

• Kristen: I don't know. (Some of it) was during that period (in life) where you are like ‘Wait, do I go with this, or is that crazy’?  I think that ultimately the answer for me is ‘Absolutely’. You question yourself along the way constantly, and I don't think that you should ever stop doing that necessarily. You should always constantly question everything, push harder, but I think it just gets a little easier (as you get older). I definitely feel a lot more realized actually, and maybe just by chance we happen to be the same age. She lives so many years in such a tiny little period of time that it’s kind of hard to put yourself there completely. I think I have grown up a little bit.  I don't know.  

Q:  Can you talk about your movie role choices in the future? Have the Twilight movies affected your choices?

• Kristen: Things have fallen in my lap and I've gotten incredibly, insanely lucky. If I can keep doing that, I would be a happy girl.  Yeah, it's always a pretty impulsive thing, ‘cause you can read a fantastic script that’s not necessarily in you to do. I don’t think I’ll play character parts. As soon as you start claiming you can be somebody you're not, you're crazy.  And I think scripts can really surprise you, and you go, 'Wow, I did not know that I would respond to something like that. I did not know that I have that in me’. I think that's maybe why I've played parts that are really similar to me because I am young and I've wanted to explore things that are more apparent to me.  And now I'm getting to the point where I want to dig a little deeper.  Yeah, you can shock yourself a little bit with this and that's what I would like to do.  

Q:  Talk about the romance that is realized in the movie and the montage of moments from the films included at the end of this movie.

• Kristen: I love that Bill (Condon, director) really put his finger on what drives this thing, cause he wasn't shying away from anything. Not to make it sound sappy, but like the thing is, it's romantic. It's what is attractive about it. It’s stirring and I think if anyone was going to try and be cool about it, it just would have been a shame. I think you can see that at the end that he's a huge fan of the story and everything that's been going down, and it's a nice little knife twist as well, like ‘Really, it's over’?  I think it's really great.  I love Bill for doing that.  

Q:  You got to play a mom in this movie. Did that make you look differently at your own mom or motherhood in general?

• Kristen: I don't know, I think that it might be something that you are sort of born with or not born with. Some people have really, really strong natural instincts, really strong desires to be a mom and it was one of my favorite things about the story from day one. How has it changed (me)? I don't know but it was one aspect of her that I was really most excited to play and it feeds into the vampires’ slightly more animalistic nature. I've always really had a great relationship with my mom and she can be a bit feral when it comes to being a mom. I think that's kind of just what it is.  

Q:  Sooo, are you anxious to be a mom?

• Kristen. I can't wait to be a mom, but like…. I can wait.  (laughter)  

Q:  You and Rob and Taylor have been at the center of the Twilight phenomenon. Can you talk about the bonds that the three of you have formed that ten, twenty years from now, only you guys are going to understand?

• Kristen: Yeah, it's nice not to be alone in that, I guess. There are a lot of people that are exceedingly famous, I guess, we share the movies. Another really common question is, ‘How is it going to be to walk away from this’? I genuinely feel like I don't have to walk anywhere, it's what I love about this job, is that you hold these things, I wouldn't have done it in the first place if it wasn't something I was always going to carry with me and I think they feel the same way. They tell me they do.