Kristen: Why She Chose The Rocker and Stripper Roles: CoventryTelegraph
The pair play vampire Edward Cullen and his lover Bella Swan in the teen vampire saga, with fans following their every move.
And Kristen’s popularity has led to her being voted Bafta’s Orange Rising Star 2010 and named the Elle Style Awards Woman Of The Year, which she thinks is "just insane”.
Here’s what she had to say about her roles and her rise to fame…
How did you feel winning the Orange Rising Star Award?
"I would never get used to something like that, [standing up]
in front of a room full of people that you respect. You feel so small,
not in a bad way, but it’s such an extreme dose of perspective to stand
up there and speak to these people.”
Does this mean the start of even bigger things?
"The list of nominees was so substantial, it’s nice to
acknowledge people who are doing cool things. It’s truly humbling and
such an honour, but I don’t think it’s going to suddenly get me my next
big job.”
The next night you were named woman of the year…
"You go from the Baftas to the Elle Style Awards – winning
Woman of The Year at 19, which is just an insane concept, so I am pretty
overwhelmed.”
You play Joan Jett in your new movie, why did you choose that
role?
"I was a fan of Joan’s music but I didn’t know about The
Runaways, and that was one of the reasons I wanted to do the film
because I think people my age are fairly unaware of them. And they sort
of kick-started females playing more hardcore rock and roll and not
being told to quiet down and dull down their aggression.
"It was something that they really had to fight for and I feel entitled to that, as a young girl of my generation. We’ve grown up being told that we can do whatever we want, and it really wasn’t the case for them. It was really hard for Joan. She was so different from other girls, she really took a lot of strife.”
Was there an added pressure when playing someone so famous?
"Yeah of course – I know what it’s like to play a character
that people know and adore, clearly. I mean, Bella is definitely an
iconic character. The difference between the two is I could never meet
Bella and say ‘Hey, so the most important part of your life – am I doing
it justice?’ and also Joan became such a close friend, she’s our
executive producer, she was there on set everyday. She was SO nurturing
and motivating and open.”
"One thing we were concerned with was not exploiting Mallory more than she already was in her real life. I wasn’t concerned about nude scenes, but I definitely did have to shred every single layer of defence possible, which is never really an easy thing to do.
"I don’t choose characters just because they’re really hardcore and they’re edgy – this girl is really sort of broken and sweet.”
Is it good to get away from playing Bella?
"I’m really lucky that I get to focus on one character for so
long, because you never get that. It’s just so indulgent. I have years
to focus on one character. They still live inside you a little bit, you
can still remember them. So it is nice to change it up, of course,
that’s why I do what I do, but it’s also nice to go back.”
So are you protective of Bella as a character?
"I guess to play any character, if you’re not in a position to defend
them, then you can’t justify the things that they do. It would be
impossible to play them if you didn’t believe that one would actually do
those things.”
What’s it like being such an idol to Twilight fans?
"I don’t harbour such a huge sense of responsibility because I
can’t claim to be anything beside who I am, and whoever played Bella was
going to be in this position. She’s such a strong solid female
character to look up to, that hopefully I do her justice. I’m really
thankful that I have a platform to do what I love and people appreciate
it.
"But in terms of being a role model then people just have to pick and choose their role models because I’m definitely not for everyone.”
