BEST ACTRESS 2021
The Crown Goes to Kristen Stewart
Kristen Stewart may not “give a shit” whether or not she gets nominated for the Academy Award for her performance as Diana Spencer in Spencer, but we sure do. And she certainly deserves the nomination. Since she was a young child, Stewart has been acting with leading roles in Speak, Panic Room, and Catch That Kid. But her starring role as Bella Swan in the Twilight franchise established her as a Hollywood A-lister.
Since her days pining over a shining vampire, she has distanced herself from the franchise world by taking on more indie projects. While the press and fans have not always been kind to Stewart, she’s managed to hold her own and grow into herself over the years. It’s undeniable that she keeps getting better. In part, that is likely due to not only embracing her sexuality but also growing up and figuring out who she is.
Pablo Larraín’s Spencer is a biographical drama about Princess Diana that focuses on one specific Christmas for Lady Di. Diana realizes she must leave her husband during this holiday at Sandringham House. Larraín focuses on Diana’s overwhelming sense of dread and claustrophobia in the marriage, turning the movie into a psychological thriller instead of a standard biopic. While critics haven’t loved every aspect of the film, Stewart’s performance certainly impressed them. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie “rests on Stewart’s shoulders and she commits to the film’s slightly bonkers excesses as much as to its moments of delicate illumination,” and The Daily Telegraph wrote, “The 31-year-old Stewart – who will be instantly and justifiably awards-tipped for this – navigates this perilous terrain with total mastery, getting the voice and mannerisms just right but vamping everything up just a notch, in order to better lean into the film’s melodramatic, paranoiac and absurdist swerves.”
Spencer had its premiere on September 3, 2021, at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, where it received a three-minute standing ovation. It then went on to play at the Telluride Film Festival. Stewart has already gotten a Golden Globe nomination for her work in the film.
