US humorist Erma Bombeck once wrote, ‘Don’t confuse fame with success. Madonna is one; Helen Keller is another.’ Perhaps this year’s winner of the Orange Rising Star Award, Kristen Stewart, had read this before. The only award voted for by the public at the BAFTAs is a clear indication of stand-out and popular young talent; ones to keenly watch out for as a future force in the industry.
Stewart is one of these; an exciting actress whose CV is rapidly increasing in strength. Her performances of late are noticeably entering maturer waters; in forthcoming drama The Yellow Handkerchief, recent indiewood piece Adventureland and as Joan Jett in Floria Sigismondi’s upcoming rock biopic The Runaways.
With the likes of Eva Green and James McAvoy winning in the past, and Cary Mulligan and Adventureland co-star Jesse Eisenberg also up for this year’s trophy, you would be forgiven for thinking that Stewart would be all smiles and weepy speeches on being named this year’s winner. Alas no. Her reaction was closer to shocked grief, like the news had been broken to her that Fido had fled the yard and now lay splattered on the street due to a speeding motorist. “I can’t believe this…” she whimpered.
Presenter Edith Bowman opened the post-ceremony interview with the usual platitudes – how special it must be to be voted for by the public – but to her alarm got an honest answer. “Hmmm… yeah, I dunno… Ah, I guess, of course…” was Stewart’s initial response. “I’m very thankful for the fans of Twilight and ah… Not just exclusively the fans of Twilight, ah you know, it’s a pretty cool thing.”
Stewart understands the cult-like intensity that franchise fans can possess. Indeed, that very night Stewart and co-star Robert Pattinson had to arrive separately to save working the crowd into a frenzy. The interview soon turning into a fast paced ramble as she fumbled for words, and ended on a bizarre note with previous winner Noel Clarke repeatedly reassuring her that it wasn’t ‘just about Twilight’ and that she should be proud.
Perhaps it’s hard to sympathise with someone who has gained success and fortune from a dedicated fan-base, but the attention must get tedious. As seen before with Star Wars and Harry Potter, successful franchises can often be more of a curse than a blessing to an actor’s career. Harrison Ford may be remembered for playing Han, Indy and the President, but Mark Hamill will forever be Luke Skywalker to millions. Perhaps learning from the aforementioned, Daniel Radcliffe has been wise in taking steps out of the wizard realm, with roles in the stage play Equus and Rod Hardy’s low-key drama December Boys going some to way to changing his image.
Stewart is the same age as Radcliffe and has even more varied features to her name, making sure to attempt something vastly different between each Twilight release. And though the Rising Star Award may have been handed to her by franchise fans, the honour will no doubt further boost her credibility and opportunities in the industry. At the very least it’s a good omen – one glance at Green and McAvoy’s skyrocketing careers is proof enough of that.
It will be interesting to see where Stewart finds herself as an actress when the fang-loving frenzy has cooled down. Yet standing at the podium for the entire world to see last week, she was all a-twitch, hair stroking and lip biting, far from lapping up the glitz and glamour like most of her contemporaries happily do. She seemed to want to be anywhere else in the world, uncomfortable with her own celebrity, desperate to get back to her seat, back to the hotel, back to normality. Let’s hope for her sake it won’t be a case of Bella forever.
