Kristen Stewart is generating serious Oscar buzz for her haunting portrayal of Princess Diana in Spencer. The former Twilight star eerily embodies the late Diana Spencer's isolation in Pablo Larraín's atmospheric film, which depicts one particularly hellish Royal Christmas spent at Sandringham,
In full view of the media, Diana begins to reconcile with the fact that her marriage to Prince Charles is collapsing. Stewart dutifully accepts the challenge of portraying the 'People's Princess' and emerges with a career-best performance.
That said, it's hardly a blip. The underrated Stewart has delivered several eye-catching performances in the past, so if you're on the fence about her role as Diana, here are five other movies that may well change your mind.
1. Adventureland (2009)
In the midst of Twilight's early instalments, Stewart charmed us in this goofily nostalgic coming-of-age comedy. She partners with Jesse Eisenberg (as she would in the later American Ultra), and helps ground this eighties-set story of a dilapidated theme park. Eisenberg's character James finds himself smitten with Stewart's Em, and coaxes some genuine easygoing chemistry.
2. The Runaways (2010)
Shedding her image as Bella Swan, Stewart transforms into punk rocker Joan Jett in this biographical drama. Stewart is transformative and driven as the trailblazing guitarist/vocalist, working well with co-star Dakota Fanning who portrays Cherie Currie. The movie is based on the latter's book, exposing 1970s excess and career exploitation with an appropriately energetic eye, and Stewart is terrific.
3. Clouds of Sils Maria (2015)
In the first of her two collaborations with director Oliver Assayas, Stewart asserts her versatility and willingness to tackle complex roles. The nominal star of the movie is Juliette Binoche, here playing a film actor named Maria who is grappling with the magnitude of her latest role. Maria's performance playing a lesbian muddies the waters between fantasy and reality, particularly when concealing feelings from her devoted assistant Valentine (Stewart, on quietly commanding form).
4. Personal Shopper (2016)
Stewart's second collaboration with Assayas is a peculiar psychological drama that almost comes off as a ghost story. She's arrestingly introverted as Maureen, an American woman living in Paris who earns a living as a personal shopper for celebrities. But the main cut and thrust of the narrative involves Maureen attempting to reach out to her deceased brother, and Stewart's effectively closed-off performance keeps us guessing as to what's physical or metaphysical.
5. Certain Women (2016)
A terrific ensemble cast lies at the heart of Kelly Reichardt's typically understated drama, a study of a group of women living in a small Montana town and adapted from Maile Meloy's short stories. The group's various struggles are used by Reichardt as a catalyst to explore contemporary concerns, and Stewart stands out as compassionate local attorney Beth, more than holding her own alongside Michelle Williams, Laura Dern and Lily Gladstone.
Click here to book your tickets for Spencer, on release now in Cineworld cinemas. Don't forget to check out our Cineworld interview with Kristen Stewart.
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