STEWART: RELAXED & CONFIDENT TALKS TO INDIEWIRE ABOUT PERCEPTIONS, FAME, PROJECTS & MORE

In a new interview with Indiewire, Kristen Stewart is definitely showing the media and the world, she's no longer the nervous teenager who was thrown into the throngs of paparazzi and gossip hounds in her Twilight days.  She's growing up and it shows.

In this new interview taken at the Cannes Film Festival, Stewart opens up about fame, her choices in projects, the media and more.

More after the break


Here is an excerpt from the interview:

The actress was feeling a bit defensive following the world premiere of her latest post-"Twilight" indie, Olivier Assayas' "Clouds of Sils Maria," and you can't blame her. Ever since shooting to worldwide fame after being cast as Bella Swan in the "Twilight" franchise, it's arguable that no actress has received more attention -- often for the wrong reasons -- than Stewart.

"I'm not trying to show anyone anything." Up until the first "Twilight" entry, Stewart had endeared herself to many with her bracing work in films such as David Fincher's "Panic Room" and Sean Penn's "Into the Wild." As soon as "Twilight" hit the scene, turning her into a supernova overnight, she became better known for her romance with co-star Robert Pattinson than her craft. She kept busy working in between the five "Twilight" installments, appearing memorably alongside the late James Gandolfini in 2010's "Welcome to the Ridleys," and in 2012's "On the Road," which also premiered at Cannes. But it's been her post-"Twilight" projects that have drawn the most attention to the actress -- attention she's trying her best to manage.

First came the Sundance prison drama "Camp X-Ray," and now "Clouds of Sils Maria," in which Stewart shares the screen with Juliette Binoche, playing her character's overworked assistant. "Clouds of Sils Maria" was better received by critics, yet both were met with countless articles on how Stewart fared in the film, and whether her performance boded well for a long career ahead. (Just last week, Criticwire ran an article titled "Will Kristen Stewart Finally Get Her Due With 'Clouds of Sils Maria'?") Despite her many years the business, Stewart still finds herself having to prove that it's her talent that got her to where she is today -- not the twihards.

That struggle was evident during a roundtable interview Stewart did with select press at Cannes the afternoon following the competition screening of "Clouds." No longer visibly press-shy as she was when promoting the first few "Twilight" films, Stewart took to the roundtable with a passion that was palpable in the way she articulated her candid responses to each question. It's clear there's some fight in her.

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She loves blockbusters just as much as small indies — as long as they're good. "It's so possible to make a [big] movie that is meaningful and truthful." "It's so possible to make a [big] movie that is meaningful and truthful, and putting it in a sort of heightened setting, to really take ideas that mean something to us but making them more effective by putting them in an odd world. Using conventions to make things hit harder. "I also just like really like big movies. I'm American, I grew up on them. But I also want them to be really good. I think that that's totally possible. When you're not completely product obsessed, I think it's possible." She's doesn't get too close for comfort with her assistants like Juliette Binoche's character in the film.


She's doesn't consider herself to be a "performance-y" actor.

"I'm just the type of actor, and there are different types, who's not all performance-y. I know a lot of actors that fucking love it. Like right now they'd be captivating you. It goes against my grain. Those things don't go together for me, which makes it hard sometimes."

She feels she was misunderstood when she rose to fame.

"I'm not saying that anyone's impression of me is wrong (that would be a silly thing to say), but initially I was deemed very ungrateful, like I didn't care. It's a thing. Think anything about me, do NOT think that I don't care. It was because I was nervous and I was freaking out that everyone was fucking staring at me."

She knows how to deal with her fame now.

"I totally have changed, just in the way that I can deal. It's not like they were right, but they weren't wrong. I don't think I was conveying myself as easily. I was just totally overwhelmed. The impression just wasn't as spot on. I'm a little older and I'm more experienced with it. It's easier to talk to you guys about it. But initially, it was just kind of impossible. When you're put on the spot and you can't think — it was a ridiculous version of that. It blew up in my face. It's hilarious that the perception is that I don't care, because when that was happening, I was like, 'Oh my god, no one cares more than me!'

She's not in it for the fame.

"With some people you wonder why they're still doing what they're doing. What is driving you at this point? The job takes a toll, a thing I think the movie is about. You're giving so much of yourself all the time. It's not something in your genetics that you retain. It can really kind of destroy you, constantly thinking about what people think about you. People who want to be movie stars… it's such bullshit. That type of life is a huge driving force in so many actor's lives. But they wont be happy people at the end, 'cause they're not doing anything for themselves. They're always satisfying."


Read the entire interview here where she talks about her directorial debut and more.