Kristen Stewart Opens Up About Parallels Between Her, Princess Diana

Kristen Stewart sat down with EW to discuss her starring role as the late Princess Diana in Spencer, set to hit theaters on November 5^th. Pablo Larrain directed.

She admits she understands the difficult spot Diana found herself in, but says it’s different: “I mean, I've tasted… I've come near these sort of manic levels of fame and intrusion. Not intrusion. That implies that I've been stolen from in this violent way. I have experienced people kind of wanting to come in, but there is no comparison to this particular woman, in terms of that fervent desire to have her and know her.”

Diana, who died almost 25 years ago, is still a major pop icon. She says of being offered the part: “I knew even before I read the script. I was like, 'You're not going to say no to this, because who would you be in that case?' I absolutely would have felt like such a coward. Especially given that I'm such an outsider. I'm not from the U.K., I don't have any particular investment in the royal family. So I was kind of this really clean slate, and then could absorb her in a way that actually felt very instinctive, you know?”

Of Diana’s rebellions she says: “It is a fact that sometimes she just didn't want to come to dinner. And if that's all you've got, if you're backed into a corner and the only way to bare your teeth is to change your clothes or not come to eat… If you're so voiceless and never listened to and never asked any questions, you're going to do things in order to be heard that are very easy to judge.”

Stewart also admitted she binge-watched Emma Corrin as Diana in Netflix‘s The Crown: “I watched it probably in one night. I think actress Emma Corrin did a really beautiful job. I mean, not to say that my opinion matters at all! But I loved her in it, truly.”