Since the mid-2000s, there’s hardly been a more polarizing or controversial actress than Kristen Stewart . Since her days on the set of Twilight , she’s portrayed some of the most renowned figures in history as well as English literature.
By now, the vast majority of fans have already heard that Kristen has received her first-ever Academy Award nomination for “Best Actress” in Spencer . As is to be expected, the news has divided fans and critics across all social media platforms .
Kristen Stewart has been a polarizing actress, ever since her breakthrough role as Bella Swan in ‘Twilight’.
At the time of the first film’s release, the “Twilight Saga” had become the most popular set of novels since J.K. Rowling’s renowned “Harry Potter” series. As is commonplace with iconic literary characters, many felt that K-Stew just didn’t live up to fan expectations.
A few years afterward, when reports of her infidelity began circulating, things went from bad to worse.
Fans will no doubt recall that Kristen and her Twilight co-star, Robert Pattinson were at one time the most talked about couple in Hollywood. When the news broke that she’d cheated on Robert with her Snow White and the Hunstman director, the public began calling for her head.
Since then, Kristen has become a proverbial pariah and called every name in the book.
Kristen Stewart has been labeled as awkward, cringe , difficult to work with, lazy, a cheater, a bad actress, as well as a litany of other names that don’t warrant repeating. But is it truly deserved? Or could it perhaps be that a scorned collective of Twi-hards are doing their best to poison the well?
Fast forward to today, where Kristen has just received her first-ever Academy Award nomination for “Best Actress in a Leading Role.”
The film is Spencer and Kristen plays the much-beloved late English rose: Diana, Princess of Wales. The semi-autobiographical film takes place in the bleak December wherein Lady Di makes the difficult decision to leave her husband, Prince Charles, and secede from the Royal Family.
Since the time of its initial release, both the film as well as Kristen’s portrayal of Diana have been mired in controversy.
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, said “It is really cruel to portray her like this. It is totally unnecessary. William and Harry will be very angry and hurt about this. They will find it horrible that their mother is being portrayed in such a huge movie this way .”
Now that Kristen’s Oscar nomination has begun making the rounds on social media, fans are weighing in with thoughts of their own.
A good proportion of people are echoing what the critics have already said. Mainly, that Kristen does a poor job portraying Lady Di, and that this is yet another subpar performance for her IMDb page.
Of course, there are also those who believe the exact opposite to be true.
Since 1982, there have been a grand total of 11 different actresses who’ve all taken their turn at portraying Princess Diana on screen. Among those include the likes of Naomi Watts, Bonnie Soper, and Elizabeth Debicki.
Twitter user @gategirl2021 thinks otherwise.
For the record, there are plenty of examples of great biopics wherein the actor didn’t look identical to the historical figure they were portraying. Joaquin Phoenix looked nothing like Johnny Cash in real life, and he wound up being nominated for an Oscar as well.
RELATED STORIES
A good number of people have been commending Kristen on her ability to tap into Diana’s desire to be loved.
When Diana was the Princess of Wales, she had the adoration of an entire country and the world at large. Yet the one person who should have loved her the most, her husband, couldn’t have cared less about her.
Kristen’s nomination also carries with it substantial sociopolitical weight.
The only other openly gay woman to ever receive an Academy Award for “Best Actress in a Leading Role” is Jodie Foster. The last time she took home the gold was back in 1991 for her portrayal of Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs .
Regardless of whether Kristen wins or not, this nomination has cemented her status as a true Hollywood leading lady.
There’s one word that best sums up Kristen’s acting resume: fearless. She’s been Joan Jett, Snow White, Bella Swan, Luanne Henderson, and now Princess Diana. Perhaps it’s high time we forgive her for past indiscretions and start embracing her as the formidable actress that she unquestionably is.
