When Kristen Stewart Felt Princess Diana Gave Her a 'Sign-Off' To Play Her in Biopic

In the realm of Hollywood, Kristen Stewart once found herself on the cusp of Oscars recognition for her portrayal of Princess Diana in the brilliant biopic Spencer. The film, directed by Pablo Larraín, debuted at the 2021 Venice International Film Festival and was applauded for capturing the essence of Diana during a tumultuous Christmas in the early 1990s.

During her time on the Spencer set, Stewart told The Los Angeles Times that she experienced 'some spooky, spiritual feelings,' which she speculated might have been Diana herself. She remarked, "I felt like there were moments where I kind of got the sign-off. It’s scary to tell a story about someone who’s not alive anymore and who already felt so invaded. I never wanted to feel like we were invading anything, just that we were kind of adding to the multiplicity of a beautiful thing."

The Twilight actress added, “She felt so alive to me when I was making this movie, even if it’s all between the ears and it was just a fantasy of mine," before adding, "But there were moments where my body and mind would forget she was dead. ... Maybe two or three times a week, I would just fully break down about the fact that she had died. I just could not come to terms with it, because I was fighting to keep her alive every single day.”

Spencer debuted amidst a surge of resurging interest in Diana, the deceased star of a 1997 car accident. The late queen was portrayed by actor Emma Corrin in Netflix's The Crown, which earned her an Emmy. Regarding her interpretation of Diana, Stewart stated that her goal was to evoke the fierceness of a 'feral cat,' as reiterated by HuffPost. She remarked, "Any picture or interview I’ve ever seen of her, there’s an explosive, ground-shaking quality to her that I always feel like you never really know what’s going to happen. Even when she’s walking the red carpet, it just feels a little bit scary. That could be projection, because we all know what happened. ... There’s no way to plan chaos. You just have to fall into it,” she said.

Stewart talked about her admiration for the royal she played on-screen during the film's Venice Film Festival premiere as well. Stewart stated, "I think it's just something she was born with," in response to a question about what she believed made Diana such a unique cultural figure, according to The Daily Beast. The actress continued, "There are some people that are endowed with an undeniable, just penetrating energy. The really sad thing about her is—as normal and sort of casual and disarming her air is immediately—she also felt so isolated and so lonely. The idea of somebody being so desperate for connection—and somebody who’s able to make other people feel so good, feeling so bad on the inside, and being so generous with her energy—I just think we haven’t had many of those people throughout history. She really sticks out as a sparkly house on fire.”