Kristen Stewart Leverages ‘Queer Identity’ In Hopes Of Reviving Career With New Lesbian Romance Film ‘Love Lies Bleeding’
Jacob Smith
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Outside of her time in the late 2000s starring in the Twilight franchise, Kristen Stewart’s career has lacked any genuine impact – so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the actress has made a sudden, attention-grabbing turn to becoming the face of identity politics.
Stewart is best known for her stardom-launching role as Bella Swan in The Twilight Saga, but since then she has found herself attached to a handful of poorly received films such as Underwater, Charlie’s Angels, and Snow White and the Huntsman.
Some believed her career was about to see a revival after she received an Academy Award nomination for her role as Princess Diana in 2021’s Spencer, but after she lost that race – her performance being immediately overshadowed by Elizabeth Debicki’s take on the same English princess in The Crown – it seems Stewart is now placing her hopes on good ol’ homosexual pandering.
During her promotional tour for her upcoming ‘romantic thriller’ Love Lies Bleeding, Stewart decided to go all-in on making sure everyone knew she was a gay movie star, starting with her now viral interview and cover photo shoot for The Rolling Stone.
“It was really f–king fun to be allowed to have the little, dykey sister be the main protagonist in a movie,” the actress said of her character in the film. “That’s never the main character in a movie. That’s never the one that you want to f–k. I mean, that’s the one some people do, but not the one that you are prescribed to want to f–k.”
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In the lesbian love story that is Love Lies Bleeding, Stewart plays Lou, a gym manager who falls hard for a bodybuilder, as played by Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania actress Katy O’Brian.
Eventually, the duo find themselves in the sights of the mob – at which time, says Stewart ,the film’s whole ‘affair-on-the-run’ becomes the kind of blood-soaked queer love story that will shatter multiple Hollywood stereotypes regarding how women – especially gay women – are portrayed in film.
“[Hollywood’s concept of a ‘strong female lead’] is bulls–t,” she told Rolling Stone. “It means that we’re not actually letting women define themselves. It’s the assumption that we need to be empowered by the people deciding who gets to have perspective, that we have to provide something aspirational. It’s the lowest-hanging fruit there is.”
Speaking to her experience portraying Lou, Stewart added, “It is a really weird, kind of moving return to form in some way. Kind of like who you are when you’re 11 — physically, the clothes you choose to wear — before you’ve just been pummeled by male expectation.”
“I never have felt like I have performed a femininity in order to reap its benefits in a way that felt like a lie,” she then opined. “I’m very fluid, and I’ve never felt like, ‘Oh, wow, I was doing this lie for a long time in order to get jobs.’ That would be wrong. I have had a good time playing with all of the tonal qualities. But there’s so much room for success when you choose the girlie one. There’s no room for this other one.”
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To this end, when later commenting on her cover appearance and accompanying photoshoot, Stewart affirmed, “If I got through the entire Twilight series without ever doing a Rolling Stone cover, it’s because the boys were the sex symbols. Now, I want to do the gayest f–king thing you’ve ever seen in your life.”
“If I could grow a little mustache, if I could grow a f–king happy trail and unbutton my pants, I would,” the actress gushed. “Guys — I’m sorry — but their f–king pubes are shoved in my face constantly, and I’m like, ‘Ummmm, bring it in.'”
Expanding on her plans to supposedly shatter the rainbow-colored glass ceiling of Hollywood in a separate interview with Empire Magazine, the actress declared, “We are constantly watching movies about women triumphing over oppressive forces because we’re somehow ethically or morally superior. It’s like, ‘No, f–k that. I’m so sick of that. I’m so sick of that f–ing movie.’”
“And so this one just felt like we were allowed to pull our dress over our head and run down the street, use the boys’ toys and shove them in their faces – and then also be like, ‘We’re nothing like you,’” she continued. “Prepare to get seriously pumped up.”
Notably, Stewart’s views towards Love Lies Bleeding‘s social impact where echoed by its director, Rose Glass, who appeared in the interview alongside the actress.
“Binaries are a bit boring,” Glass said to Empire. “It’s all very fertile ground to play with, doing something about a female bodybuilder. It shouldn’t be that shocking to see somebody who looks like these two do in a film – but there’s still something quite punk about a really muscular woman.”
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