If there’s one thing Kristen Stewart has made clear over the course of her career, it’s that she’s going to do what she wants, when she wants it. And right now, she “so badly” wants to get in the director’s seat.
In a conversation with Nicole Kidman for Variety published Thursday, the Spencer star lit up while talking about her next endeavor: directing an adaptation of The Chronology of Water, Lidia Yuknavitch’s 2011 memoir about addiction, abuse, and lots of sex. While we’ve known since 2018 that this first-time feature was on Stewart’s plate, she revealed something new while talking with Kidman — she’s finally cast her lead role.
“I’ve been alone with this, in this vacuum, and it’s so nice to give something to someone, a friend and a partner, and say, ‘Help me,’” Stewart confided to Kidman. “She’s the one who’s going to have to do it, and it’s really hard, so I’m over the moon.”
“Really hard” might be an understatement, given the film’s subject matter and Stewart’s vague-yet-foreboding comments (“The freezing water that I’m going to throw this girl into, I already feel terrible,” she told Kidman. Sounds like this yet-to-be-announced actress has her work cut out for her!)
Although Stewart hinted she just met with a would-be backer “with a lot of money” who’s enthusiastic about the film, she says she wants to keep the production small, not extravagant. (It’s a smart principle to stick to in this case because Chronology is much better suited for an intimate arthouse experience than a big-budget blockbuster.)
Stewart described Yuknavitch’s writing as “so physical and so fiercely, ragingly female,” leading Kidman to ask if there was a part for her in the directorial debut. We know that she was mostly teasing, but honestly, can you imagine?
Even if Stewart doesn’t end up casting Kidman, it looks like she has big plans to make a messy, difficult film about trauma, sexuality, and the imperfect ways we try to heal, which is something we so badly want to see more of in the world.
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