Kristen Stewart covers the new issue (Spring) of V Magazine, likely to promote On the Road, right? Her Twilight promotion is over, and On the Road is the only thing she has out these days. The V Mag photo shoot is by Inez & Vinoodh, and it… sucks. I mean, it’s very “Kristen,” but I don’t think that’s a good thing. I know Twihards are going to yell at me, so let me explain myself: I think Kristen is very photogenic, and she’s capable of working some very strong photo shoot styling. So I don’t understand this minimalist shoot in which Kristen’s hair looks super-greasy and she’s slouching and slumping her way into self-inflicted misery. You can see the full V Mag shoot here, and here are some highlights from the interview:

Kristen goes out of her way to be nice during the interview: Upon walking into this interview a few minutes behind schedule, she proffers a hug and an offer to “stay until you get everything you need.” There are no publicists, handlers, ringleaders, or beefcake bodyguards hanging around… “I really love people… You can’t not as an actor. It’s just strange meeting someone and going, Okay, you start at square one and I will try and make up for what you already think you know about me.”

She feels stronger than ever: “I have realized that you can close yourself off to life if you put walls up, but it’s a difficult thing. You can’t see over, people can’t see in, and you also can’t see out. So I’ve gotten quite comfortable with just being unafraid. I keep saying the same thing: it’s not about being fearless but really just embracing the fears and using them.”

On the Road: “I would have done anything, I would have played any part,” says Stewart. “Marylou is remarkable because she’s got a tough core. When you’re a teenager, a year can be crippling to maneuver through. You’re just out there questioning things, and so to be completely okay with that and not think that there’s anything wrong with you, that’s something I’ve recently understood. I’m 22. Marylou started this whole thing when she was 15.”

Kristen thinks being an actress is super-important: “It’s a pretty f–king odd thing to want to pretend to be another person,” she says, “and then have a lot of other people who watch you do that. You have this experience of reading something, and if you don’t bring it to life, you’re basically deleting it. Every day of shooting you’re depriving the world of having that. The responsibility is amazing.”

She’s no longer calling herself a “miserable c—t”: “Until you really get to know the woman behind the character, it’s difficult to connect the dots. I’m a contemporary, sensitive, normal girl, and it’s difficult to try and empathize with someone who seems to have a lack of empathy. She seems a bit callous in the book. She’s literally the farthest…I have never encountered a person that had their nerves so f–king close to the surface.”

Broadway Twihards? “Theater is a completely different way of working, but, yeah, I would be very much down.”

She’s up for ensemble work, especially with her girlfriends: “There are so many cool girls out there!” she says, name-checking Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams, and her best friend, Dakota Fanning.

She’s not closed off anymore: “I am not closed off to anything right now,” she says, smiling. “That is what I was saying about not having any more walls up. I don’t want to deprive myself of any bit of life.”

[From V Magazine]

I think Kristen has the same issue that Anne Hathaway and many, many others have – she spends way too much time thinking about how she’s perceived and she spends way too much time trying to publicly identify her personality traits, her vibe, her essence. Part of it is pushback against preconceived notions that the public might have of a girl who spent the past five years in a deep sulk, a girl who spent years slouching, eye-rolling and lip-biting her way to this place, only to describe it now as being a run-of-the-mill “contemporary, sensitive, normal girl.” I kind of liked her better when she just acknowledged that she is, in fact, a “miserable c—t.” But maybe this IS the new Kristen. We’ll see.

Photos courtesy of V Magazine.