‘Twilight’: Why Kristen Stewart Welcomed Being ‘Pigeonholed’ After Playing Bella Swan
Though Kristen Stewart has been acting for most of her life, nothing she’s done has even been quite as high-profile as The Twilight Saga. When Stewart was cast as Bella Swan in Twilight and its four sequels: New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn – Part 1, and Breaking Dawn – Part 2, she became a household name. Suddenly, millions of people were obsessed with her, her career, and her personal life.
Being the lead in a massive film franchise like The Twilight Saga definitely has its perks. Thanks to Stewart’s involvement in the films, she is set for life financially. Financial freedom is a wonderful thing for an actor because it ensures that they can select projects that are more obscure or that have a smaller budget. Furthermore, when actors are in franchises and in the height of their fame, a lot more filmmakers are itching to work with them.
Why Kristen Stewart wasn’t concerned with being pigeonholed after ‘Twilight’
Of course, there are downsides to being in such high-profile projects. After working on something like Twilight, it’s easy for actors to be typecast and only offered roles that are similar to the high-profile one they played. But, interestingly enough, Stewart was never worried about being pigeonholed. In fact, she welcomed the idea.
“The access that we all have is ridiculous, Stewart shared with Collider while reflecting on her The Twilight Saga experience. “It’s the hugest compliment, especially if fans of the book pigeonhole you. Please pigeonhole me! That means I did it right. If somebody who is fanatically obsessed with this book and these movies always says, ‘It’s weird for me to watch you in other stuff,’ that’s great. That’s perfect! That’s a compliment.”
Stewart welcomed the challenge of getting people to see her as someone other than Bella Swan
Stewart continued on to share that she knew it would be challenging to separate herself from her infamous Twilight role, but it was a challenge that she welcomed. “It’s thrown me into the greatest thing possible,” the actor confessed “The challenge that we have ahead of us, I couldn’t ask for more. Challenge is my favorite thing in life. Now I’m allowed to challenge myself the way I want to, rather than falling into things.”
Since The Twilight Saga ended, and even while it was still filming, Stewart smartly took on other roles to distinguish herself from Bella Swan. While people may still be obsessed with her infamous vampire role, that part is certainly not the only one that fans think of when they think about her career. The same can be said for Stewart’s co-lead, Robert Pattinson. Since wrapping the franchise his career has only grown. Currently, he’s in the process of leading another massive film franchise as The Batman.
Stewart and her fellow cast member, Robert Pattinson, have successfully moved beyond ‘Twilight’
Clearly, Pattinson and Stewart and their teams had a strategy for making sure that their careers achieved longevity beyond their Twilight days. While the actors may still be thought of as Edward Cullen and Bella Swan on occasion, they’ve more than proved they have the range to do other characters as well.
