New Moon’s new man
SheKnows: When it was announced that Chris Weitz was going to direct, Stephenie Meyer was quoted as saying, ‘Let’s see how a man does with the movie.’ Did you have any
trepidation when Catherine Hardwicke departed? Also, do you see Bella as a role model for young women?
Kristen Stewart: I think that Bella is such a good character for girls, not to look up to because it’s not looking up. She’s normal. I think the most typically relatable thing is
that she’s awesome and she doesn’t know it and she’s very confident but also not arrogant. It’s a weird thing to be. I think she also has a lot of really innately female qualities that for a
character in literature I think it’s awesome that so many girls can look up to her because she’s fickle and unabashedly. It’s like, ‘I’m allowed to make mistakes and I’m going to do it and I’m
going to do it right now and I’m not going to be ashamed of it.’ Bella is very much like that. I think she is a good example for a young girl. I think the director thing, everyone is different. I’m
not smart enough to sit here and analyze whether or not a female would’ve been more in touch. Both characters that the protagonist deals with are men. Everyone approaches relationships differently
and I can’t really think of an answer.
SheKnows: You say Bella is a good role model for young girls, and yet she seems willing to sacrifice everything for Edward. She gets depressed about a love affair and becomes an
adrenaline junkie who’s trying to kill herself in a way. Aren’t you worried about twelve or 13-year-old girls watching this and getting ideas?
Kristen Stewart: It’s a very extreme story. I think people who take to this story need to be a little bit more mature than that. I think the only reason that they take to it is
because they are. The only way that I can justify that, and maybe I’m an immature girl as well, I really feel like if you feel like you need to do it, then you need to do it and ‘it’
being anything. Then after you’re told that you’ve made a mistake and that you’re wrong, if you’re willing to say that you made a mistake and ‘I was wrong and I’m gonna try the next thing’, there’s
nothing to be ashamed of there at all. Be extreme. Go for it! I think that’s the point. I know this is a movie about immortality but you live once. I’m also not preaching to anyone. I’m just
standing behind the story. That’s what I think.
Bella’s beauty
SheKnows: Do appreciate it when fans want to relate to you as Bella? How do you handle that?
Kristen Stewart: I totally understand why people have a hard time separating ourselves from our characters. It’s also just sort of the way our world is going. People are obsessed.
There’s an incredibly large group of people that spend most of their time considering other people’s lives. It’s strange to me. Like I said, I can’t have anything to do with it or else I step in
and mess it up for myself and I can’t even
do it in a way that’s complete. I just let it sort of fall by the wayside and it doesn’t really affect me.
SheKnows: You’ve talked about trying to live in the moment and enjoying it. Is there a memory from the set that you’ll always take with you?
Kristen Stewart: The one moment that really (stands out), throughout the filming of New Moon, [was when] we wrapped in Italy. The last thing that I did I was running through a
square through a bunch of people just around this corner, one little part of that montage where I’m running through there. There were so many people around and there was so much energy. You could
feel everyone was expecting the done date. We were almost finished. I can’t turn off. I need to be fully and completely on up until that very last moment. I remember the second that we wrapped. I
said at Comic-Con that my favorite moment of New Moon was when we wrapped and people took it the wrong way. It wasn’t like I was so glad to be done. It was the most memorable moment for me
because I literally fell apart. I literally went (gasps). I almost couldn’t handle it. It was one of the coolest experiences I’ve had on a movie so far. Chris was there and it was something that we
had together really. I just felt really good and that’s the most memorable experience.
SheKnows: How do you relate to the idea of being immortal?
Kristen Stewart: How do you relate to that? I can only relate to that as Bella can because she is still human. I think that’s an interesting question for any one of the vampires
because they actually (deal with that). The way that I consider immortality from both my perspective as Kristen and my perspective as Bella is that it’s so completely unknown, but that, given the
right motivating factor, I’d be willing to explore it. She’s very willing to acknowledge that she doesn’t know but that she’s willing to give it a chance because of Edward because she’s willing to
sacrifice anything for him basically. A big thing for Bella is change. She’s so terrified of change because she’s been thrust into this world. It’s not a necessarily very healthy way of looking at
things because nothing is going away. I should be at work right now talking to Chris. This is ridiculous (laughs). Basically if you’re facing something that is completely unknown but
you’re willing to take everything that is hard about it because of what you might get, that’s hope. That’s why we get up everyday. Immortality is almost more scary in our story than mortality. To
live forever seems on the surface like a really cool thing, but in our story it’s terrifying and in our story that means taking your soul or at least it does to Edward. Like the lines of personal
belief and theology and your faith, what you think is going to happen after you die, these are all things that we think about incessantly in the movie and things that Edward and Bella even argue
about. I know that was really everywhere, but there you go (she whistles like it all went over our heads).
Bella’s bodyguard
SheKnows: How attached have you become to Bella since starting this project?
Kristen Stewart: I’m very protective of her. I feel a shared ownership. It’s weird. If you were to talk about the character in a way that was not at all thought out or flippant, I
would be right there to say that you didn’t know what you were talking about. I’m so defensive of her. So, yeah, I like her a lot. I think I can just say yes.
Up next…Kristen Stewart talks about Eclipse!
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