In the early years of Kristen Stewart’s career, she was already making a name for herself, starring in movies like Panic Room and Into the Wild. But for most people, the first movie that comes to mind when they think about Kristen Stewart is Twilight. What started off as an indie romance fantasy movie in the late 2000s, became one of the biggest and most celebrated young adult franchises to date and is still widely spoken about today. This shot to her to becoming a household name but also lead to an onslaught of criticism over her general demeanour and “lack of emotions.”
Over the years she’s proven to naysayers that she is more than the baseless commentary forced upon her, with 70 movies (and counting) under her belt; working with renowned directors like Olivier Assayas and David Cronenberg, and earning herself an Oscar Nomination for Best Actress in 2022 for her portrayal as Princess Diana in Spencer.
Kristen steps into a new role: director.
Recently, Stewart has taken on a new role, as director in her long awaited directorial debut feature film, The Chronology of Water, based on the memoir of the same name by Lidia Yuknavitch.
This emotionally fuelled film has perfectly captured the innate experiences of being a woman and the toll our bodies can endure through the sheer nature of surviving. Every sound, every movement, and every frame, invades your senses and is confronting, uncomfortable, and somewhat comforting. You can feel her years of work as an actress embody the film; with her influences and her craft aiding in the ability to make every second of the film feel alive.
Celebrating this milestone, here are the top 12 best performances in her career so far.
12. Equals (2015)
Feeling Too Much in a World That Forbids It
Directed by Drake Doremus, known for his film Like Crazy, Equals tells the story of a dystopian world in a future where emotions are forcefully suppressed. The concept of the story is interesting enough, but lacked a clear through narrative and felt unfinished. But regardless, Stewart’s performance is fantastic.
She portrays Nia, a woman whose emotions bubble at the surface and eventually explode, in a world where it’s deemed unacceptable to feel. Stewart is able to encapsulate what it would be like to experience a wide range of emotions for the very first time, through the way her eyes move and delicate twitch of her fingers, allowing you to feel the hesitance and the desire through the screen. An aching, intimate, and honest depiction of the overwhelming and all encompassing feelings of falling in love.
11. Adventureland (2009)
The Tumblr-Era Indie Crush
A nostalgic movie for many people – circa Tumblr era – Adventureland is a comedy drama where college graduate James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) unwillingly has to take a job at an amusement park to make it to grad school. He meets and quickly falls for Em (Stewart), a co-worker with complicated familial issues, who uses the amusement park as a getaway from her life at home.
It’s a coming of age film that feels cosy and familiar. Stewart leans heavily into the alluring and mysterious traits of her character, allowing her to feel tangible and real to the audience.
10. American Ultra (2015)
Proof Kristen Stewart Can Be Loud, Loose, and Funny
Honestly tied with Adventureland but American Ultra is the first time post The Twilight Saga where we see Stewart in a playful, and for lack of a better word, silly role. Straying far away from the usual indie arthouse films, this movie is about a stoner named Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenberg), living a mundane life with his girlfriend Phoebe Larson (Stewart). But their lives are suddenly turned into shambles when he finds out that he’s a deadly sleeper agent caught in the middle of a messy government crossfire.
Stewart has great comedic timing and is effortlessly charming in this action packed comedy. And seeing Eisenberg and Stewart on screen again (the second film out of three they’ve worked on together) is a nice treat for fans of the pair.
9. The Runaways (2010)
Going Full Joan Jett, No Notes
If anyone were to ever play Joan Jett, be glad that it was Stewart. She fully transformed into the young rocker in the movie that depicted the early days of Cherie Currie and Joan Jett as they joined the first all female rock band to ever go mainstream. Not only replicating her quirks and tone of voice down to a tee, but donning Jett’s famous haircut, learning how to actually play their songs on the electric guitar, and recording songs with her own vocals on the soundtrack – only proved how multifaceted and dedicated she is to her work.
All this in the midst of filming The Twilight Saga, and maybe at the time, taking on this role was an effort to show people that she is more than what the tabloids and the internet said about her.
8. Still Alice (2014)
Stealing Scenes by Standing Completely Still
Still Alice tells the story of a woman named Alice (Julianne Moore), a linguistics professor who gets diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Along with her husband and 3 children, including Lydia (played by Stewart), we bear witness to the devastating effects the disease not only has on the victim, but their family.
While a small and supporting role, Stewart’s stage presence is captivating. What she does perfectly is the ability to hold space for the quiet and emotional beats, while being present to allow the the actors she’s playing against to take the control of the scenes – all while being able to hold emotional resonance within her own role.
7. Seberg (2019)
A Star Under Surveillance and Under Pressure
Inspired by true events, the film is based on the life of actress and activist Jean Seberg (played by Stewart) and her involvement in the civil rights movement, more specifically the Black Panthers.
This film hasn’t necessarily received that many positive reviews, due to the convoluted storyline and weak script, but Stewart was able to build onto Seberg’s natural enigmatic nature with her captivating stage presence.
6. Love Lies Bleeding (2024)
Sweat, Sex, and Violence in an A24 Fever Dream
Love Lies Bleeding is an insane (in the best way) movie that manipulates different genres of movies and blends them altogether; true to the types of movies that come out of their distributor and production company, A24.
The movie is about Lou (Stewart), a solitary gym manager that falls head over heels for Jackie (Katy O’Brian), a motivated bodybuilder who has dreams of going to Vegas. They fall in love, but quickly come into trouble when Jackie gets involved in Lou’s criminal family.
The movie is pure lust and violence – Stewart is sexy, vulnerable, and brash in this darkly comedic thriller. A nice change to the type of film we usually see her in.
5. Panic Room (2002)
Kristen Stewart’s Breakout Child Actor Performance
At just ten years old, Stewart was cast in David Fincher’s Panic Room. A thriller about a home invasion that leads Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) and her daughter Sarah (Stewart) to hide in their panic room, only to find out that what the intruders want is right under their noses.
The beginning of a decorated and fruitful career, Stewart role is not an easy feat. It’s an intense role to be playing, particularly at that age, but playing Sarah only solidified her vigour and talent in the industry.
4. Clouds of Silas Maria (2014)
The Performance That Made France Fall in Love
Stewart was (and still is) the only American to be nominated and win a César Award for Best Supporting Actress. This award is said to be the French equivalent of an Oscar, with the role also earning her a multitude of Critics Awards for her performance. Her minor role in the film clearly made a massive impact.
Stewart plays the charming personal assistant, Valentine, to a renowned actress named Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche), who is grappling with the very real reality of the limits women face in the industry as they age. Stewart plays with the complex tension between Valentine and Maria in a soft and natural way, beautifully adding subtext to the layered work by director, writer, and producer, Olivier Assayas.
3. Welcome To The Rileys (2010)
The Role That Proved Twilight Was Never the Point
Welcome to the Riley’s stars James Gandolfini (Doug Riley) and Melissa Leo (Lois Riley), as struggling parents dealing with the loss of their teenage daughter. As they drift further and further apart, Doug begins an affair with a younger waitress. But when he finds out she dies, he goes on a trip to New Orleans to find clarity – finding that clarity at a strip club.
Here he meets 16 year old stripper, Mallory (Stewart), whose advances he vehemently denies, and instead offers her money and a place to stay to hopefully lead her on a better path. As time goes on, they become an atypical family, along with Lois who was initially completely against the idea, but warmed up to Mallory’s wit and charm. It’s a heartwarming and vulnerable story about grief, loss, and how that grief can be translated into love.
It might be surprising to know that this movie was filmed in the same year as Twilight. But if people looked beyond her role as Bella, they would’ve seen the potential of her character and her talent from the beginning. She was 18 when this movie was filmed and built a character that had so much depth and grit, and committed so wholly to Mallory that you forget that you’re watching a movie at all.
2. Personal Shopper (2016)
Grief, Ghosts, and Text Messages From the Void
Another film from Olivier Assayas sees Stewart in a psychological thriller. She plays a woman named Maureen, working in Paris as a celebrity personal shopper, trying to desperately communicate with her dead twin brother.
Assayas has a way of writing that completely lends itself to the actors, where she is able to play the perfect amounts of stoic and fearful, in a movie that speaks to grief and how it manifests within people – though the film can be confusing if you’re not paying attention. Her portrayal makes you feel the agony and dread Maureen holds within herself, and we as the audience are able to feel the weight of such a harrowing film through her actions.
1. Spencer (2021)
The Performance That Finally Silenced Everyone
Stewart is clearly no stranger to a biopic, having already previously played Jean Seberg and Joan Jett, we already know she has the ability to study and fully transform herself into someone new. But there’s always been inklings of Stewart’s own character under the surface, which is a part of her charm as an actress. You can feel her presence and heart in everything she does because you can see it onscreen.
But her performance in Spencer reaches new heights. She felt like a completely different person, and it was the first time where she was truly unrecognisable in a biopic role. While she isn’t the first person to play Princess Diana in film or TV, her portrayal in this adaptation of a snippet of the late Diana Spencer’s life was agonising and haunting. Her mannerisms and her gestures, whether minuscule or substantial, were felt onscreen and even the way her hands moved, mimicked some type of emotions.
She is genuinely exceptional in the role, and critics obviously thought so too with this role landing Stewart her first Oscar Nomination.
Conclusion
Kristen Stewart’s best performances come from commitment. For Spencer, she immersed herself in Princess Diana’s world. Studying biographies, perfecting the accent, and internalising Diana’s physical presence, it was that instinct to inhabit a role rather than play it that has defined her career. It’s helped her move from misunderstood blockbuster star to one of the most quietly daring actors of her generation, and now? To a promising director.