I’ve been parceling out W Magazine’s Great Performances covers and features because I’ve really enjoyed the series this year. The interviews have been great, and celebrities are telling different kinds of stories than the regular Please-Give-Me-An-Oscar-For-My-Struggle tales. Kristen Stewart has been pretty ambivalent about her Oscar campaign – she’s very proud of the film, but she doesn’t want to act like a baby-kissing political candidate, which is what most potential Oscar nominees act like. K-Stew is, as always, too cool for that. Her W Magazine interview is a trip – you can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
How ‘Spencer’ came to her: “Pablo Larraín called one day and said that he endeavored to make a movie about Diana Spencer. I was like, “Who is that?” It’s actually Princess Diana. And that was her real name. His movie is a three-day meditation, fever dream–poem, attempting to imagine what a certain period of time felt like for her, as she was trying to carve out what her identity was.
How she played Diana: “The whole movie’s perspective is incredibly internal, so I never had to deliver a heightened performance. I was actually just reacting to the elements that were in the room with me. Physically, it was about seeing how much I could put myself through, how cold I could get, how skinny I could get, how tired I could get. I still felt 10 feet tall, though. There’s something about her, even just by osmosis, just imagining her as a figure, the things that I’ve been impressed by, the things that I’ve felt protective of, the things that worry me about her, they’re still oddly, unshakably strong. By the end of the movie, I was like, “Okay, I actually could keep going.” I really tried to pummel myself into the ground on this one. I definitely attribute that to this spooky transference, her energy, who she was, it was unstoppable.
She’s been starstruck before: “Yeah. I saw Neve Campbell in a restaurant the other day, and I looked over my shoulder and did this thing that I hate when people do [it] to me, where they look and then snap back and pretend they didn’t see or something. I’m like, “Just come say hi.” And then my friend was like, “You should just go say hi.” I was like, “No way.” And then she invited us to sit down and chat for a minute. I was like, “Man, I need to go see Scream [Five].” I love that series so much. But it’s funny who actually starstrikes you. It’s never who you expect. It’s a physical thing—maybe you love a musician, maybe you love an actor so much, but you see them and you’re like, “Yeah, cool. That’s them. They’re a person.” There are some people that just get in there. Physically. And then your body goes, ahh.
Whether she follows astrology: “I’m an Aries. I don’t follow it day-to-day, but I love the conversation that it starts. I saw The Birthday Book. That thing is strikingly accurate for mine. In a way, that’s scary. The best part is, “The more highly evolved Aries will do this. The less evolved Aries will do this.”
Whether she’s ever had an identity crisis or wanted to step away: “Never. I’ve definitely wanted to go back in time and not do certain jobs, but again, there’s no way out but through. Have I ever taken a few steps back and gone, “Maybe a different path is the one for me?” I just have this infinite choice. I just am constantly going, “I don’t have one path. I have like 500 million paths that I could choose.” I mean, how many movies can I make a year? Probably three, four. I’m like, “That’s too many.” But just imagine how many experiences. I don’t know any other lifestyle that would give that to me. And I’m so addicted at this point. I can’t stop.
Reader, I laughed: “He endeavored to make a movie about Diana Spencer. I was like, “Who is that?” It’s actually Princess Diana. And that was her real name.” Oh, K-Stew. Never change! She’s talked about the process of invoking Diana before, and how much she felt like Diana was there in spirit. Having seen Spencer… I appreciated that it was done as a horror movie, and there were parts of it which were so good and interesting. But Kristen was just sort of… okay in the role. Oh, and she is such an Aries.
Cover courtesy of W Magazine, additional photos courtesy of ‘Spencer’.
That movie was actually scary in places but the whole time I kept thinking that the reality must have been even more terrifying.
Agree but also scary bad acting though too right? Kristen’s performance was so so so painfully bad for me and I’m appalled she was nominated…
LMAO sure, Kristen
When was KStew born though? Was she a baby when Diana died? I guess it’s possible she didn’t know.
She’s 30 or 31, so she would have only been around 6 when she died. I buy it. I wrote about this below, but I sometimes forget that for most of the public the royals are just this very broad concept they have a general idea of (Charles cheated, the Queen, and now Harry & Meghan). I learned a short while ago that my friends thought Harry and Meghan lived in New York for some reason lol (they knew America, just thought it was NYC for some reason).
Normally I would find it hard to believe she didn’t know Spencer was her name. However, I am beginning to believe people are obtuse about things that don’t directly relate to them. The other night watching the College Jeopardy tournament, 3 seniors were wrong on a answer about abbreviations. The abbreviation you ask? NATO. All 3 attempted and all 3 thought the T was for Trade. I can’t even. How do you graduate from HS let alone be a college senior and NOT know the North Atlantic Treaty Organization?
College graduate here, and I didn’t know. The world has so many things going on, I think it’s really easy to have gaps here or there.
I find that troubling about college students and NATO. Even if they were busy texting that day in government class, it’s the kinda thing you learn in freshman classes in college. But if you haven’t followed the RF, aren’t British, and weren’t alive when the news was calling her Lady Diana Spencer, I can see not knowing.
I agree Nikki! I double check stuff like that all the time. I’m a pediatric nurse with a Master’s degree and do not consider myself obtuse. If someone invents a party game with nothing but “name-that-acronym” questions ever shows up on the market, I’ll buy it =)
As for the Spencer thing, Diana, Cher, Beyonce etc, – I would need a second to remember their last names. But for Meghan & Harry’s story, I’m guessing a lot of young Americans would know very little about Diana.
You learn about NATO in high school.
When you study WW2 & the Cold War. Not knowing Spencer is far more understandable
I do not know when you learned about NATO so I won’t tell you that you learned it in high school. I do know that making an error on Jeapordy is not obtuse. It’s part of the game and those students clearly enjoy the challenge. It, in no way, indicates a lack of interest in world affairs.
Most of us took biology in high school. Yet, I still spend a lot of my time explaining the difference between a virus and bacteria to parents with sick kids. I completely understand it too. They’re busy, there is a fire hose of infomation their lives and it’s ok to refresh one’s memory.
Phd here. No idea what NATO stands for. Also not entirely sure what it does. My high school history classes never really made it past ww2. If it was mentioned it would have been mentioned one day in US history class 15 years ago.
why do some people think we (US Americans) know everything about the RF? most people don’t care; despite how famous Diana was, we had even more famous people in the US. Diana was mostly known as Princess Diana, I don’t think most people know her name was actually Diana Spencer……You would be surprised how little US Americans care about the RF; I would say Meghan being a US American marrying in that family might have given them attention, those people are not mentioned in our main channels over here! To be honest, I paid attention because Meghan is from over here….otherwise who gives a damn! we fought a war to get rid of them
Andrew made news as I saw him on CNN but I bet you most people can’t name a lot of them besides maybe H or M or the queen…..there is a video circulating on twitter where people can’t name the 2nd in line… we are no the UK
Totally agree! I’m 35 and always heard Diana’s referred to as Princess Diana. I had no idea Spencer was her last name until this movie came out. I only know about any of the Royals from this site but none of my friends have any idea who Meghan Markle is other than maybe that American that married a British prince or something. I don’t think most Americans could tell you which brother is William and which is Harry and who they are married to. Andrew made some cnn headlines and got the save the children conspiracy people going but most Americans tend to think all the royals are pointless and don’t care about them at all IMO.
If you were old enough to remember the news surrounding the wedding you’d at least have heard the name Spencer (it was very mainstream news in the US) but I can totally see how if you were born after the wedding or hasn’t paid enough attention at the time it would be easy to live a full life without knowing Di’s maiden name. Her family has been discussed often enough on this site but I guess we can conclude KStew skips the RF threads when she reads CB.
@VS: I could not agree with your post any harder. I had heard of Princess Diana but was never moved to watch her wedding. I also knew she had 2 boys but paid no further attention to her or the RF until the announcement of her death. (I didn’t even know, until Meghan’s arrival that they announced births by certain protocols, signs etc.). I didn’t even know how many children the queen had or that Prince Phillip was her husband. As you stated, I only started paying attention because Meghan was an American, then I grew to like her and Harry, and totally despise the royal family. So, given Kristen’s Stewart’s age, she’s younger than I am, I can quite believe that she may have heard of Diana but not known her maiden name.
I can believe that, actually. There are people who you know only based on their stage/most common name.
I don’t think a person is obtuse if they didn’t know Diana’s maiden name. It’s just not relevant to most people’s lives.
When I first heard that the movie about Princess Diana was Spencer, I was like “why would they name it that?” I’d forgotten -for a hot second- that was her maiden name. I still think of her as Diana. Like Cher or Adele, her last name fades from memory. I can’t even remember Adele’s last name. Lol
Adkins 😊 Adele Adkins.
I have paid zero attention to Adele her entire career and didn’t even wonder if she had a last name. It happens. I like KStew; I hope she wins the Oscar even though I didn’t think she was great in the movie and I think the movie was weird. She took a big risk in taking the role and I like to see huge risk rewarded.
Lol, I never even knew that, so thanks.
Excellent example….same with Oprah, Beyonce, Serena, Venus; and now that you mentioned it, I actually didn’t know Adele’s last name or even Cher…..I know them as Adele and Cher
Adele and Cher I didn’t know the last names of. Can’t remember having heard them mentioned before. Is Cher even her real first name?
Beyonce was more often called with her last name when she was still in Destiny’s Child and not as iconic as she is now. So, I know her last name, but she became the super-star Beyonce since then, so I had to think for a moment before I remembered.
Oprah, Venus and Serena, I often used to hear named with both first and last name, particularly Oprah. It was the Oprah Winfrey Show, right?
Though she has kind of changed into ‘Oprah’ maybe the last ten years for me :).
I’m not American, so ‘Williams’ is often added to the first names. They are well-known as great athletes, but don’t really have the added pop-cultural significance as they do in the US.
Flowerlake, Cher’s real name is Cher, short for Cherylin, and her surname I’d be surprised if anyone knows: Cherilyn Sarkisian. I laughed at the mention of Adele, because like someone above wrote, never thought of her having a last name; same with Cher 🙂
The other names you mention, besides Beyonce, are not really the same thing: they’re not one-named people. The Williams sisters have always been known by their surname, they’re not one-named stars, they’re athletes. Nor is Oprah a one-named star, everyone knows her as Oprah Winfrey, her surname is as famous as her first.
I’m liking Kristen more and more as she’s gotten further and further away from her angsty Twilight years.
I’m, like, still not, like, a fan. She’s, like, you know, terrible.
OMG hilarious. And said with a monotone.
But she suffered for this movie! She was willing to pummel herself into the ground!!!
She had a really solid performance in Spencer. Not many movies they let the woman carry the plot line like that and she aced it.
I loved the movie, but I never forgot I was watching Kristen Stewart portray Princess Di. Another actress would have been better.
Forgive my unpopular opinion, but I hated Spencer. Granted, I didn’t expect KStew to do an on point impersonation of Diana, but she sounded like she needed an inhaler or oxygen throughout the film.The catch-my-breath-after-each-word “performance” was a distraction and it didn’t work for me. Unfortunately, the way people are talking about her “performance” means the Academy will award the Oscar anyway
Same with me. I liked her performance toward the end, but for the first two thirds of the movie it was so intense and abrupt and clenched, I couldn’t enjoy it at all.
I agree. I really didn’t care for the movie at all. I found KStew distracting. I was always aware she was “acting” and the shoulder/neck movements she made always looked like spasms to me. I haven’t minded her in some other things she’s done but I didn’t think the movie nor Kristen were very good. That being said, she deserves this nomination if Nicole Kidman deserves hers. lol
I like the cover. Kristin is so naturally pretty. I saw Spencer a while ago, and I still dont know what to make of it. Her performance was affected. It’s the only word I can think of to describe her Diana. Just like Nicole Kidman in Being the Riccardos, all I saw was Kristin Stewart cosplaying Diana.
Yes…same here. I felt like I was watching a little girl dressed in Mommy’s clothes. She just didn’t have the “presence” of Diana, her stature, posture, grace. The actors playing her kids were almost as tall as she is (and with was it with Harry? “Just get me a Ginger kid!”) The running scene (in the yellow dress? I’m forgetting), oy! … but Diana didn’t *galump* like that.
Also, the fact that they couldn’t find a decent copy of the Ring of Doom??? THAT bugged me lol. The wedding dress was wrong…I thought they said they got the pattern from the dressmaker, or am I remembering a fact from The Crown?
That’s what bothered me most. And the director did her dirty. A generation grew up pre Internet never knowing how short Tom Cruise really is. They could’ve done more with wardrobe and camera angle to make her look less tiny. In most cases it wouldn’t matter but with Diana it does. Especially given how recently the Crown cast Diana brilliantly. Like, did the director not realize we had something very recent to compare it too?
It’s an interesting cover. She resembles Twiggy, Twiggy with a wig.
great styling on the cover photo. I love her hair especially!
I still want to see it. I want to stream it because I’m not ready to go to a movie theater, and also to be able to hit pause because it sounds triggery AF.
I actually believe this. Most of us on here know the royals, but for a lot of people she was just Princess Di. Same with her being surprised that Harry and Meghan were in California…my friends don’t care about the royals but knew they were in the states but thought they were in New York for some reason (I mentioned they were in Santa Barbara and they were like wut?).
Basically, the royals are massively, massively well known but in a very broad sense (not the nitty, gritty details) by most of the GP imo. I actually think that’s why there hasn’t been a true public backlash because people are unaware of just how bad they are beyond Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview.
Hugh Jackman did not know wolverines were real animals when he was first cast / studying up for playing Wolverine.
Bwaahaaahaahaaaaa!! 🤣🤣🤣
He’s Australian. Wolverines aren’t found anywhere near Australia.
I know because I’ve researched Diana, probably a lot. For the non-royal watcher (or critic), I don’t think it’s a big deal if you didn’t know Diana’s last name. I assume Fergie’s last name was Ferguson before she married, but I have no idea. I don’t even know if Fergie is her first name or what her real first name is at the moment (pre-coffee, but I’m not blushing anyway). B.A. and two Master’s Degrees here. What I’m saying is it’s not I.Q., but cultural knowledge, I guess? And it’s not even American cultural knowledge, but British.
Post-coffee: Sarah Ferguson.
Is this an age thing too? I’m 30 and obviously pay attention to royal gossip. I’m not sure I can say I never heard Diana Spencer before but if you asked me what her maiden name was before this movie started getting press, I’d have no idea.
I just find it interesting that readers of this website would have overlooked Diana’s given name, considering how many references to the Spencer genes vs. the Windsor genes Harry & William both exhibit; or the Spencer tiara & why or why not Kate doesn’t get to wear that; or the Earl Spencer, Diana’s brother; etc., etc.
I love this site! I click on the M & H stories often but rarely read about the RF family beyond that.
No question it’s an age thing. I was only 5 or 6 when she married Charles but for whatever reason I’ve always remembered the name she was known by before the wedding. But it’s totally different to remember historical details that happened before you were born. Your brain prioritizes the ones most interesting and/or relevant to you. Like, I know more than most about Bogie and Bacall but don’t quiz me on other shit that happened in the 40s.
I was born after their wedding, but I still remember the divorce and the drama around it. Also knew her name was Spencer. I always read the gossip magazines with great interest, even if I was a kid. There was a lot in it about Diana even though I’m not from the UK.
But I think it’s normal that most people, particularly outside the UK, don’t know that much about her.
Probably more people in my mom’s generation know a bit more, but Kristen is younger than me and not British either, so it seems normal to me that she wouldn’t know.
Jenna, yes it’s a generational thing, too. In recently looking up the queen’s father, I was surprised to find out his name was not originally George, but Albert (I think). He took the name George when he became king. Confusing, too, since one of his brothers was named George. So cultural ignorance or obtuseness (or any other pejorative phrase) is really in the eyes of the beholder. How many African kings’ names do we know? How much do we know about the dynasties of China or the history of Korea? It’s very culturally subjective and I’d say class subjective, too, as well as generational (and sexist). It’s what any given culture deems to be important (about its own culture) and you’re ignorant (if not stupid) for not knowing it.
True enough, but as for the British kingly names–these guys all get three to four names, and are usually (not always) known in the family by their first given name. Continuing the example you cited, TQ’s father, known in the family as Bertie with his older brother known as David, Bertie became George VI & David became Edward VIII. I think the name they choose to be known by once they ascend the throne has an eye toward history & dynasty & so on. There will never, ever, be another King John, for example. He’s the one who signed the Magna Carta giving away all those absolute monarch entitlements. It’s also not helpful that they use the same set of half a dozen names or so.
Yes, and the name ‘John’ was considered unlucky for a king beyond the UK as well.
They tended not to do very well.
Jean I of France, for instance, was born after his father’s dead and lived only a few days.
Jean II was captured in battle by the English and had to pay a huge ransom to get free. When he couldn’t pay the next installment, he returned to England and died there.
Scotland’s John Balliol also didn’t do well as king and had to abdicate.
I know there were more unluckly John-Kings in Europe, but can’t think of them now.
There was a John, Duke of Burgundy, who was murdered. Though he had his cousin murdered before, so he wasn’t innocent either.
Sorry, I forgot to add that cultural “literacy” is also incredibly racist.
The wig look from the 60s looks so good on her.
BeanieBean, Thank you very much. I had heard there would never be another King John because the name was “unlucky.” So it turns out he’s despised because he gave the British people one of the greatest documents of human rights!!!! I’m shaky on American Constitutional history, but I’m sure the Magna Carta was important to our founding fathers in drafting the Constitution and later the Bill of Rights (also unsure if the latter two documents were written by the same set of founding fathers). So very interesting! It also occurs to me that the Lost Prince, the youngest of King George the VI’s brothers was Prince John and died young (13 years old, I think) and had what may have been autism and seizures? I remember reading that David wrote horrible things about his youngest brother, which alone makes him reprehensible in my book (along with his Nazi sympathies).
It’s true that it’s ironic.
King John had been a mess basically his whole life.
John had been his father’s Henry’s favorite. Henry’s family was constantly at odds with each other and even fighting each other, but he thought he could trust his youngest son John at least. Just before his death, Henry found out John had also been disloyal.
He plotted with the French King Philippe II during his brother Richard I’s absence on crusade and then captivity, but his mother raised the ransom and Richard returned long enough to get John back under control.
After he became King, he was soon widely considered to have his nephew Arthur murdered in a sinister way.
He lost a big part of his family’s extensive possessions in France within just a few years. This was a problem for his barons as well, as they often had lands in both England and France. John did more to piss them off and they rose in rebellion. That resulted in him being forced into the Magna Carta.
The French Crown Prince also invaded, claiming the English throne (he had a claim through his wife) and lots of people even welcomed him, which says a lot.
John died soon after, but not without managing to lose the crown jewels in the water.
Other things he did:
-get into a beef with the Pope. This was never good for press back then as many of the chroniclers were clergy.
-annul his first marriage and marry the fiancee of the Count of Lusignan (adding another enemy to his impressive list)
-this marriage with Isabella of Angouleme was a lot of drama, resulting in some of the wildest gossip that ever was in a royal marriage, like John supposedly having a strangled lover of hers hung over her bed.
He did more stuff and if you’re interested, read more about Isabella’s history as well, as she matched John for drama and crazy intrigue even after he died.
Very interesting, Flowerlake–thanks!
Not everyone follows or is even fully aware of the BRF. I know a few people that don’t even know basic details of that family and I live in Canada.
I dunno. I’m 33 and not a fan of the RF, but I knew that her maiden name was Spencer. I would assume that it was common knowledge. They said her name in full many times after her death, and you couldn’t escape the coverage of that if you tried. It’s true that she was most commonly known as Lady Di or The People’s Princess, but I find it hard to believe that it wouldn’t work its way into her brain somewhere, even just in passing. Weird.