CANNES, France: In a pair of films at the Cannes Film Festival, Kristen Stewart makes a plaything of her celebrity, giving a homes-of-the-stars Hollywood tour in Woody Allen’s 1930s-era tale “Cafe Society” and playing a fashion assistant in Olivier Assayas’ psychological drama “Personal Shopper.”
Though “Personal Shopper” was met by a smattering of boos at its press screening in Cannes, Stewart has won raves for both performances. Her sly subversions of her fame — playing characters that exist just outside the real-life spotlight always fixed on her — follow her award-winning role as a famous actress’s personal assistant in Assayas’ “Clouds of Sils Maria.”
In the mysterious “Personal Shopper,” her character buys designer clothes and jewelry for a star, while mourning her late twin brother, with whom she believes she can communicate spiritually. On Tuesday, Stewart discussed fame as a constraint that can immobilize her.
“Sometimes I do feel a little bit like I’ve had my limbs cut off,” Stewart told reporters. “That’s not to say it’s a bad feeling, it’s just surreal.”
Cannes has been a valuable place for Stewart to explore new, more adventurous avenues for herself, and she has been a common, much-photographed presence throughout this year’s festival.
Summoning the fright of her character in “Personal Shopper,” she said, needed no communion with the supernatural.
“The constant nature of life is so terrifying,” she said, under press-conference lights. “You can’t get away from it. Like right now, I can’t get out. I can’t get out of here! I cannot get out of right here.”
Asked about the booing, Assayas (“Carlos,” “Summer Hours“) said he accepted that “movies have a life of their own” and that Cannes, in all its feverish intensity, is “the extreme version of that.”
Though “Personal Shopper” was met by a smattering of boos at its press screening in Cannes, Stewart has won raves for both performances. Her sly subversions of her fame — playing characters that exist just outside the real-life spotlight always fixed on her — follow her award-winning role as a famous actress’s personal assistant in Assayas’ “Clouds of Sils Maria.”
In the mysterious “Personal Shopper,” her character buys designer clothes and jewelry for a star, while mourning her late twin brother, with whom she believes she can communicate spiritually. On Tuesday, Stewart discussed fame as a constraint that can immobilize her.
“Sometimes I do feel a little bit like I’ve had my limbs cut off,” Stewart told reporters. “That’s not to say it’s a bad feeling, it’s just surreal.”
Cannes has been a valuable place for Stewart to explore new, more adventurous avenues for herself, and she has been a common, much-photographed presence throughout this year’s festival.
Summoning the fright of her character in “Personal Shopper,” she said, needed no communion with the supernatural.
“The constant nature of life is so terrifying,” she said, under press-conference lights. “You can’t get away from it. Like right now, I can’t get out. I can’t get out of here! I cannot get out of right here.”
Asked about the booing, Assayas (“Carlos,” “Summer Hours“) said he accepted that “movies have a life of their own” and that Cannes, in all its feverish intensity, is “the extreme version of that.”
