In Eclipse, Bella Swan finds her own in the hands of Kristen Stewart. Stewart welcomed the challenge of tackling the third chapter in the Stephenie Meyer Twilight Saga. In Eclipse, Kristen Stewart has to confront the pop culture earthquake that is Edward versus Jacob.
When Eclipse arrives in theaters June 30, Twilight fans will be halfway through the cinematic tribute to Stephenie Meyer and her supernatural world.
KRISTEN STEWART: THE LOOK OF LOVE?
SheKnows: So, Stephenie Meyer’s success is rooted solely in a faulty, yet noble perception of ideal love?
Kristen Stewart: I don’t know. People always wonder if we should be giving little girls ideas of meeting the perfect man. It’s not something that’s been shoved into their heads. Everyone has that ideal and, especially, little girls have this idea in their head that there is something that could be perfect for them and that they can be better than all the rest of the girls because they’ll have the perfect guy who will never screw them over. If you’re really in love with someone, then it doesn’t matter because that’s such an overpowering feeling and you’re willing to make sacrifices. That’s our whole story.
SheKnows: We spoke for Yellow Handkerchief and that character capturing was a little different. How do you tackle portraying a character over so many films?
Kristen Stewart: This is a really unique situation. I get to play Bella for a really long time, and that’s also a serious indulgence and something that’s really lucky because I feel really sad when I lose a character at the end of a short shoot, which is typically six weeks on a small movie. That’s what I’m used to. It’s obviously the one role that’s put me in this epic position, but it’s just another movie.
ECLIPSE BRINGS THE HEAT
SheKnows: We’ve repeatedly talked about the tent scene and how effective it is in Eclipse. First of all, how do you keep a straight face trying to pretend you’re sleeping while Jacob and Edward are having a mental man-on-man war?
Kristen Stewart: The takes were so long. It was so hot in that sleeping bag, and that scene is eternal. I have nothing really to do in it. They ran the lines a little bit, but I was playing half-way between being asleep and hearing bits. I couldn’t get my head around hearing that conversation because she’s really not supposed to.
SheKnows: Eclipse brings home the love triangle in many ways…
Kristen Stewart: I’m always between those two guys. I think it’s really funny that Taylor always has to take his shirt off [laughs].
SheKnows: The many scenes atop the mountain present a challenge for Bella. What was your driving force through that integral scene to the Twilight Saga?
Kristen Stewart: She’s got such tunnel vision that Edward is the only thing for her. That’s a strange perspective. Then, I have to go in and talk to Edward about it, and it’s such a different dynamic than we’ve ever had. It was a different Bella. I had never had to play somebody who would’ve done stuff like that, so that was hard, and I was nervous as hell.
For Kristen Stewart, it is simply an emotionally riveting visit into the world of a character in Bella that produces the gamut of human emotions throughout her Twilight journey.
KRISTEN STEWART’S SECRET TO SUCCESS
SheKnows: Twilight, New Moon and now Eclipse pandemonium arises for many reasons. What do you think is the secret to the success?
Kristen Stewart: I don’t think it’s a big phenomenon because of the mythical vampire aspect. It definitely takes a good story and it raises the stakes and makes it a little bit more interesting, but I think it’s just about how whole the characters are and how easy it is to have faith in them and be addicted to them. They let you down a lot and then pick themselves back up. I don’t think it has anything to do with the vampire thing. I think that just makes it a little cooler. I think that, if you took out all the mythical aspects of the story, that it would still stand as a really strong and interesting thing to be a part of.
SheKnows: But there is that element of the supernatural…
Kristen Stewart: I think the whole vampire and werewolf thing are really good plot devices. All of the aspects of the vampire and werewolf are fully encompassed by the humans, by Jacob and Edward. Our movie isn’t perfect. None of our characters are perfect, at all. They’re all so completely crazy and messed up, and that’s why they go well together. They don’t make excuses for their weirdness and they accept each other for who they are. On paper, I’m sure that if you were a friend of Bella’s, you’d be telling her, "You better check your boy because he ain’t treating you well." [Laughing] And Jacob is a nutcase.
