I never tire of looking at Kristen Stewart. In the new issue of V Magazine , which features the On The Road actress in a 10-page photo spread,by Inez & Vinoodh and on its cover, writer Sarah Cristobal writes that there is “a slightly feral air” to Stewart’s presence, and that’s exactly what makes her so fascinating to watch on and off screen. I wish On The Road had been a more cohesive movie, and a better showcase for Stewart’s talents post- Twilight Saga , but she clearly has no regrets. The actress tells V that the Walter Salles picture has been “a fucking amazing experience. I would have done anything, I would have played any part.” She adds that the character she did play, Marylou, who was based on Beat icon Neal Cassady’s onetime wife LuAnne Henderson, was “remarkable because she has a tough core. When you are a teenager a year can be crippling to maneuver through, you’re just out there questioning things and so to be completely ok with that and not think that there is anything wrong with you, that’s something I’ve recently understood,” says Stewart, who points out that she’s 22 where “Marylou started this whole thing when she was 15.” As Stewart told Movieline , playing Marylou helped her to be “unabashedly” herself , and she elaborates on that theme a bit with V . After a year in which she weathered a storm of overheated Scarlet Letter -style publicity and issued a public apology for cheating on reported boyfriend and Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson with her Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders , Stewart tells the publication: “I have realized that you can close yourself off to life if you put walls up, but it’s a difficult thing…people can’t see in and you also can’t see out. So I have gotten quire comfortable with just being unafraid. I keep saying the same thing, its not about being fearless but really just embracing the fears and using them. (..) I don’t want to deprive myself of any bit of life. Oh yes, and if you’re wondering which actresses are on Stewart’s radar, she says there “are many cool girls out there” and name-checks Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams and her Twilight Saga and The Runaways co-star Dakota Fanning. Now check out some pictures. Read More on Kristen Stewart: Kristen Stewart Goes ‘On The Road’ & Chats Up Her Racy Role WATCH: Kristen Stewart Channels The Fierce Bella Swan In ‘Today’ Interview [ V Magazine ] Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Prognosticators have maybe five (or even as few as two) possible Oscar winners, and most lists of ten (or so) have many of the same titles though perhaps in various orders. But folks, the nominations have yet to come in and the Academy made that clear today with its list of 282 feature films for 2012 that are eligible for Best Picture. [ Related: Oscar Index: ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ Caught In The Cross-Hairs ] Rules are rules and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences officially considers a feature film that played in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County by midnight, December 31 and begin a minimum seven consecutive day run. [ Related: Golden Globes Unveil 70th Edition Nominees ] Under Academy rules, a feature-length motion picture must have a running time of more than 40 minutes and must have been exhibited theatrically on 35mm or 70mm film, or in a qualifying digital format. Feature films that receive their first public exhibition or distribution in any manner other than as a theatrical motion picture release are not eligible for Academy Awards in any category. Diary of a Wimpy Kid Dog Days to Django Unchained ; The First Time to Flight ; Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted to Magic Mike ; 17 Girls to The Sessions … They’re all on the official list , so don’t count out the non-elite not making Awards headlines. The 85th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 10, 2013, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2013
Kristen Stewart says it was director Walter Salles’ passion for On The Road that inspired her to sign on for the film. At the New York premiere for the film, the actress, who plays free-spirited Marylou (a character based on Beat icon Neal Cassady’s onetime wife LuAnne Henderson), Stewart told me she was impressed by the immersive research that Salles did — including a 2011 documentary called Searching for On The Road — in preparation for adapting Jack Kerouac’s novel for the screen. “There’s an honor to this story and to the project that is not typical in our business,” Stewart said. Salles is lucky to have her riding shotgun, too. Hollywood has been trying to turn On the Road into a movie since the year it was published, 1957, and Stewart’s immense star power was crucial to getting the job done. RELATED: Check out Movieline’s photo gallery of Kristen Stewart and Garrett Hedlund at the On The Road screening at AFI Fest Salles also talked to me at the premiere as did cast members Sam Riley , Garrett Hedlund and Kirsten Dunst and screenwriter Jose Rivera. It was fun to congratulate him for getting top billing on the movie poster — a rare thing indeed for writers in Hollywood. Check out my full interview below: MORE ON KRISTEN: Kristen Stewart Shares How ‘On The Road’ Helped Her Be Unabashedly Herself Kristen Stewart Talks ‘Hard Love’ In Toronto For On The Road Kristen Stewart Tells Toronto Her Character’s Ability To ‘Love So Openly’ Was Difficult, Nude Scenes Not So Much Follow Movieline on Twitter . Follow Grace Randolph on Twitter .
If you’ve ever fantasized that Kristen Stewart invited you to bed by saying, “Hop in, water’s fine,” well, this is a trailer for your permanent collection. The actress and her Bohemian behavior in On The Road get prime placement — there’s even a quick glimpse of her talked-about double hand-job scene — along with co-stars Garrett Hedlund and Sam Riley , in this just-released trailer for Walter Salles adaptation of the Jack Kerouac novel. Although the trio appears to get the most screen time, the fast-paced clip does a good job of introducing most of the name cast members, including Kirsten Dunst , Viggo Mortensen, Amy Adams , Elisabeth Moss and Alice Braga. The film gets a limited released on Dec. 21 if the world doesn’t end along with the Mayan calendar. You can also head over to iTunes to download the trailer — for your permanent collection. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Kristen Stewart stunned on the AFI Fest red carpet Saturday night, where she met up with On The Road co-stars Garrett Hedlund and Amy Adams along with director Walter Salles and the OTR crew before the film’s North American premiere. Get photos of Stewart, Hedlund, Adams & co. — along with Parks and Recreation ‘s Nick Offerman, who showed up in support of his AFI Fest pic Somebody Up There Likes Me — in Movieline’s hi-res gallery! Click images for more . Also walking the AFI Fest red carpet that night were filmmaker Michel Franco and actress Tessa Ia, whose bullying drama After Lucia is Mexico’s Best Foreign Oscar entry. Get more photos from AFI Fest 2012. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Kristen Stewart has a big Grauman’s Chinese Theater Hollywood premiere this weekend and vampires are no factor. That didn’t stopping legions of teens to line Hollywood Blvd to catch a glimpse of Stewart (and who knows who else) who is starring along with Garrett Hedlund , Sam Riley , Kirsten Dunst , Amy Adams and Steve Buscemi in Walter Salles ‘ stunning On the Road , screening as a Centerpiece Gala at AFI Fest where it is having its U.S. premiere. In the film version of one of the most celebrated works of 20th Century American literature written by Jack Kerouac, Stewart plays the unconventional free-spirit Marylou, the former wife and still frequent lover of Dean Moriarty, a fast-talking charismatic with an insatiable libido. Dean and best friend Sal (Sam Riley), a young writer whose life is shaken after Dean’s arrival, take to the road. Marylou frequently accompanies Sal and Dean’s travels across the country in adventures fueled by sex, drugs and the pursuit of the ” It ” – a quest for understanding and personal fulfillment. Stewart spoke with ML during the Toronto International Film Festival where the film had its North American premiere. She shared thoughts on her character’s “hard love,” how she grew herself being a part of the film and how this was the “biggest experience” she’s felt on a set. So what was your road to On the Road ? I was 14 or 15 when I first met Walter Salles. I spoke to him when I was 17, I think I may have shot the first Twilight , I’m not sure – possibly I was about to go do it. At first I was talking about playing another part, so it’s been a long time coming. I don’t know how I was able to get around that kind of energy, but to convey that I loved this thing in the way [Walter Salles] does and as soon as you get around that energy it passes between you, nothing really needs to be said. I got the job on the spot, and I drove away just vibrating. I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ Plus I was very young, I wasn’t quite old enough for the part yet. When I read the book many years ago, I found it sprawling and didn’t seem to have elements that would make it translatable to the screen – at least I remember thinking that at the time. What did you think of the book when you first read it? I was reading it for school, so I had to read it. I did independent study when I was in high school. I remember, I took so long to read the book. All I had to do was read it and write a report, it wasn’t like I had to do an intensive study of the book, and it took me months and months – I was late. But, I think my teacher was OK with it because I think ultimately the paper was good. But, people say it’s different when you read it at different ages – but for me at the time, it was fun! At that age you start realizing you have a choice in who you surround yourself with. Up until that point, you’re just around circumstantially who you’re with – your family or whatever – but at that point you can start choose your family – and I’ve got a great family by the way – but I mean just the people you decide to surround yourself with. I don’t want to sound cliché, but people should pull something out of you that would otherwise remain unseen. And when I read the book I thought, ‘gosh I need to find people like that.’ I’m definitely not [my character, Marylou’s] type. As I continued reading it and got older, the weight of it started to mean more. I was totally enamored by the colors and the way he wrote it and jumped over words and how it read like a song. Then when I did the movie, to play a part like Marylou – she’s very vivid. She’s very colorful and interesting and on the periphery so you don’t know how and why she can do the things that she does. By the time it came to bring it to life, I didn’t want to play just a crazy, wild sexy girl. I wanted to apply all the whys and get to know the people behind the characters. There’s a weight to it. It’s not easy to live a life like that. That’s what makes these people kind of remarkable. It’s a give and take. There’s no way to have this without pain, but they’re not frivolous, they can feel it… Marylou’s a forward thinking progressive soul, but she’s also surrounded by this situation with her ongoing yet ever-changing situation with her ex-husband, Dean, who is still an emotional roller coaster, both for himself and her. Did you ever judge her in respect to why she’d tolerate him for so long? No, I never had done so. I always wondered how she could take it. How deep is that well? How much can you give and how much can you let be taken from you? What I found about her is that she’s very unique to her time, but nowadays she’d be something else. Her capacity to see everyone’s flaws and appreciate them is really unbelievable. Any interview we did with anyone who was involved with them [before doing the movie] always said the same thing – that she was such a wonderful woman. She’s infectiously amazing. So, no I didn’t judge her. So then, how would you describe the relationship between your character, Marylou and Dean? They really are simpatico. It’s tumultuous. It’s hard to love like that. But they’re so in love with each other. You don’t know this from reading the book, but they stayed lovers until the end of his life. He kind of raised her and she always had a place in his heart, though I think the capacity was so enormous that there were also others in that heart, but she was at the center. And the same goes the other way around. I think they helped each other grow up and they raised each other. How do you hope your Twilight fans will approach seeing this movie? Undoubtedly some will be curious to see you doing something outside of Bella and this may be for many their first chance. How do you hope they’ll approach seeing this film? Well, I mean you just walk into a theater [laughs]… I think if I can have anything to do with just one person that would not have otherwise read On The Road , then that would be incredible and I’m very happy to be a part of that. I think that if you have any inclination of seeing this being a Twilight fan, I have to say I don’t have much control over the things that I choose because I do need to feel compelled to do the roles that I do. I very rarely tactfully think about my career and how people are going to perceive it and I think that’s what people appreciate and if that’s not the case, then it’s kind of like – um, that’s not going to go away. It’s a false thing. I think people will really like it and if you didn’t like the book, then don’t watch the movie. You know what I mean? However anyone wants to interpret it is all good with me. People describe On the Road as a “watershed moment” in American culture in that it upended the strict conservative culture that prevailed in the 1950s in the U.S. So from your perspective as a 20-something, how do you see it as relevant culturally today? I think this is a good time to see this story visually because most people can watch it and not be shocked by it as they might have before. Back then, it would have been so shocking to see people doing drugs and having sex that they wouldn’t have seen the spirit behind it – the message behind it would have been [diluted]. Though, maybe it would have been good because it would have forced people to look. But maybe they weren’t able to yet. There’s always going to be conflicting intuitions that might not even go together, but these are people who have the strength to be OK with people disagreeing. At that stage of your life, there’s so much ahead of you – at least it feels that way. The reach is so important even if something is unbeknownst to you, but you feel compelled to find out what it is… Don’t ignore it! At that age, it’s important to have a faith in feelings you can’t articulate because at some point you need to hold onto them. And these guys found a word for that, it’s the ” It ” and I don’t think that’s ever going to go away. So what is that ” It “? How would you describe the It ? [Laughs] Trust me, we’ve talked about that so much… It’s the pearl . It’s that thing that makes your life bounce. I think if we knew it… I honestly think it’s an individual thing, but if something is funny to you and you’re alone you can smirk at it or whatever, but suddenly if you’re with a lot of people that also find it funny, you can be hysterically laughing. There’s something about life that you can’t completely describe. It also goes along with not ignoring that burn and going, ‘OK, I’m content right now to be smart and conservative and hold onto what I’ve got.’ I just think it’s important to keep going for it. How has your experience playing Marylou or in On the Road generally influenced your life professionally or personally? You said you’ve been a part of this project for a long time, so you’ve had quite a turn at experiencing this culture even as you took on other roles including, of course, Twilight . It was the most time I’ve ever spent feeling. Twilight was a good five years and was a very indulgent creative experience. [Most projects] are usually only about five weeks, three months or six months tops. But because I was attached to On the Road so long, the build up and pressure inside by the time we go there was just bigger than anything I’ve ever felt on a set. We had four weeks of proving that we were so thankful and happy to be there because we’re all fans of the book, but we had put in the work and we knew the purpose and the weight of it and how so important it is to so many people. It’s all to Walter [Salles’] credit, but if anything, what this has taught me is that if you stop thinking and just breathe through it, you’re such a better actor. You just have to put in the initial work and then not become too analytical because you have to trust that you’ve already done it all. So it’s opened me up in a way that’s appropriate to my age. I’m just a bit less inhibited. Just being able to not think so much before you speak is good. It has helped me in that way. It’s not being less shameful, it’s just being so much more unabashedly myself. I think that all started when I was 15. I can be around people and say what I think and have a conversation with a stranger and it’s all good.
The two most chilling films I’ve seen so far in Toronto are both documentaries: Dror Moreh’s The Gatekeepers and Alex Gibney’s Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God .” I’ll be writing more about Gibney’s film in the coming days, but I got a chance to briefly interview Moreh at a dinner Sony Pictures Classics threw at Creme Brasserie in the Yorkville District of Toronto, and I want to share his comments. The Gatekeepers is remarkable because Moreh managed to get six former leaders of Israel’s security agency Shin Bet to go on camera for the first time and talk about the sometimes very dark things they’ve done to protect their homeland from terrorism since the Six-Day War of 1967. The men talk about torture, about cultivating informants and about collateral damage: the calculations that go into deciding whether to take out a terrorist at the risk of also killing innocents. They also talk, in very level-headed terms, of the spineless nature of the political leaders to whom they report. What really resonated with me is that Moreh never loses sight of the fact that, despite the life-and-death decisions these men made over the course of their careers, they are just men. (Indeed, one of the men looked unsettlingly like my father.) And in addition to pulling the curtain back on what goes into the bloody sausage-making process of Mid-East politics, these former Shin Bet leaders talk quite eloquently about the toll their work took on their psyches and their souls. What I didn’t expect is for the men that Moreh interviewed to agree so readily that peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians is possible, even if they didn’t all agree on how it should be accomplished. It’s easy to make the assumption that the men who do the kind of work that these former Shin Bet leaders did are hawks by nature — and committed to maintaining conflict in order to insure that their work remains in demand. But I left the screening of The Gatekeepers that I saw convinced that these six former Shin Bet leaders wanted an end to the conflict, see it in Israel’s grasp and, yet, are disgusted that their superiors are doing little to move in that direction. At the Sony Pictures Classics party, I asked Moreh why the six former Shin Bet leaders had given him such unprecedented acccess, and he told me: “I think they came because they are concerned like me. They see that Israel is going on a path that can lead only to a bitter result,” he explained. “Each has a different point of view, but they are all worried.” When I asked him if he could see an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Moreh replied: “Peace is possible. The problem in Israel is that we lack leadership. Never ever in the history of this country has there been such a good and understanding leadership on the Palestinian side, and Israel does everything in its power to avoid conversation. Everything,” Moreh said with a wince as Pierce Brosnan, Aaron Paul and Zac Efron roamed the crowd. The Gatekeepers director added: “I’m wondering, when [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu says ‘two-state solution,’ with whom does he want to speak? Does he want to speak with Hamas? With Iran? [Former Prime Minister Yitzhak] Rabin said there’s a small window of opportunity [for peace.] It is closing,” Moreh said before adding: “The day that [former Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon got the second stroke,” which left him unable to perform his duties and paved the way for Netanyahu’s return to the prime minister’s eat, “was the worst day in Israel’s history after the assassination of Rabin” in 1995. When I asked Moreh if there was anyone he would like to see lead Israel, he replied: “There is no leadership that I can see now that can do what needs to be done.” Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Kristen Stewart fans may have been disappointed that the Twilight superstar did not make an appearance at last week’s MTV Video Music Awards, but crowds here in Toronto had the chance to see the actress on the red carpet for the North American premiere of Walter Salles ‘ On The Road along with fellow cast members Garrett Hedlund , Kirsten Dunst , Amy Adams and Sam Riley . Stewart spoke with ML about the part she had actually landed before she filmed her first Twilight installment. Stewart shared her thoughts on the steamy relationship between her character Marylou and Hedlund’s Dean Moriarty — a life-long relationship that was rife with affairs, drugs and a wild ride on the road. [ PHOTOS: Kristen Stewart, Garrett Hedlund, and Kirsten Dunst at the Toronto premiere of On The Road ] “They really are ‘simpatico.’ It was a tumultuous relationship. And it’s hard to love like that, but they were so in love with each other and you don’t know this from reading the book, but they stayed lovers until the end of his life,” Stewart said during a conversation with ML at a Toronto hotel over the weekend. Stewart first read On The Road as a high school freshman. A short time afterward, she was approached by director Walter Salles who had been told to consider Stewart for the part of Marylou after fellow filmmakers saw her in Sean Penn’s Into The Wild and suggested that he consider the young actress. The project took a number of years before the actual shoot commenced and in the meantime, Stewart began doing the enormously popular Twilight series, propelling her fame into the stratosphere. “I got the [ On The Road ] job on the spot and I drove away vibrating,” Stewart said. In the film version of the book written by Jack Kerouac, Stewart plays the unconventional free-spirit Marylou, the former wife and still frequent lover of Dean Moriarty, a fast-talking charismatic with an insatiable libido. Dean and best friend Sal (Sam Riley), a young writer whose life is shaken after Dean’s arrival take to the road. Marylou frequently accompanies Sal and Dean’s travels across the country in adventures fueled by sex, drugs and the pursuit of the “It” – a quest for understanding and personal fulfillment. “He kind of raised her and she always had a place in his heart, even though there were a lot of spots in that heart, but she was definitely one in the center and the same goes the other way around,” Stewart said of Marylou and Dean, the On The Road names of the real-life individuals described by Kerouac. “They both helped each other grow up.” One of the seminal works of literature of post-war America, On The Road took decades to be made into a film, even after Francis Ford Coppola acquired the filmmaking rights to the story. Stewart said she believes that society may have not been ready to see On The Road in theaters in the immediate years after the book was published, acknowledging that the film, which has not yet been rated, is racy. “I think it’s a good time to see this story visually because we are not shocked by some of the things that we were so shocked by before and it would have veiled it,” said Stewart. “It would have been so shocking seeing people doing drugs and having sex that you wouldn’t have seen the spirit of [ On the Road ]. You wouldn’t have seen the message behind it. Maybe it would have been good because it would have forced people to look, but maybe they weren’t able to do it then.” She also expressed the need for young people to have dreams and a zest for life, similarly to the characters in the film, even if those dreams are not fully comprehended. “At that stage of your life there’s so much ahead of you, at least it feels that way. At that age you need to have a faith and feelings you can’t articulate yet because at some point you need to hold onto them and you’ll find the words to describe them.” [ Movieline will have more from our interviews with Kristen Stewart, Garrett Hedlund, and Walter Salles this week. ] Read more from the Toronto Film Festival. Follow Brian Brooks on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
“It’s like watching your child up there,” Wayne says of Deuce’s debut VMA performance. By Nadeska Alexis, with reporting by Jim Cantiello Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz perform on stage during the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards at Staples Center Photo: Christopher Polk/ Getty Images
Actress and co-star Garrett Hedlund chat with MTV News at the Toronto International Film Festival about director Walter Salles’ dedication. By Terri Schwartz, with reporting by Josh Horowitz Kirsten Dunst, Garrett Hedlund, and Kristen Stewart at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival Photo: George Pimentel/ Getty Images
