Kristen Stewart

Early life

Kristen Jaymes Stewart was born in Los Angeles, California on April 9, 1990. Her father, John Stewart, is a stage manager and television producer. Her mother, Jules Mann-Stewart, is a script supervisor and filmmaker. Jules, an Australian native from Maroochydore, Queensland, had studied at the University of Sydney before moving to Hollywood at the age of 16.

Jules had been adopted by a Jewish couple, Norma and Ben Urman, in 1953 in California. In a November 2019 interview, Stewart said that a 23andMe DNA test had suggested that she had approximately 24% Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry.

Stewart has an older brother, Cameron B. Stewart, and two adopted brothers, Dana and Taylor. In 2012, Stewart's mother filed for divorce from John after 27 years of marriage.

Stewart grew up in the San Fernando Valley. She attended local schools until the seventh grade.

As she became more involved in acting, she continued her education by distance until graduating from high school. Since she was raised in a family who work as non-actors in the entertainment industry, Stewart thought she would become a screenwriter or a director, but never considered being an actor. She said: "I never wanted to be the center of attention—I wasn't that 'I want to be famous, I want to be an actor' kid. I never sought out acting, but I always practiced my autograph because I love pens. I'd write my name on everything."

Career

Career beginnings and breakthrough (2000s)

Stewart began acting at age eight, after an agent saw her perform in her elementary school's Christmas play. After auditioning for a year, she got her first role with a small, nonspeaking part in the Disney Channel television film The Thirteenth Year. Her next film was The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, where she played the "ring toss girl". She also appeared in the independent film The Safety of Objects (2001), as the tomboy daughter of a troubled single mother (Patricia Clarkson). Stewart also played the tomboy, diabetic daughter of a divorced mother (Jodie Foster) in the thriller film Panic Room (2002), directed by David Fincher. She was nominated for a Young Artist Award for her performance. Following the success of Panic Room, Stewart was cast in another thriller, Cold Creek Manor (2003), playing the daughter of Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone's characters and receiving a Young Artist Award nomination for her performance. at 13, she dropped out of school and switched to homeschooling.

At age fourteen, Stewart had her first starring role in the children's action-comedy Catch That Kid (2004), opposite Max Thieriot and Corbin Bleu. That year, Stewart also played the role of Lila in the thriller, Undertow (2004). Stewart starred in the Lifetime/Showtime television film Speak (2004), based on the novel by the same name by Laurie Halse Anderson. Stewart, aged thirteen at the time of filming, played Melinda Sordino, a high school freshman who nearly stops speaking after being raped. Her performance was widely praised. The New York Times said, "Ms. Stewart creates a convincing character full of pain and turmoil."

Stewart appeared in the fantasy-adventure film Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005), playing the role of Lisa Budwing, the irresponsible older sister of two little boys. While playing a board game, they turn their house into a spacecraft hurtling uncontrollably in outer space. The film was praised by critics, but Stewart's performance did not draw much media attention. Her character is immobilized during most of the film. The following year, she played the character Maya in Fierce People (2006), directed by Griffin Dunne. After that film, she received the lead role of Jess Solomon in the supernatural thriller film The Messengers.

Stewart appeared as teenager Lucy Hardwicke in In the Land of Women (2007), a romantic drama starring Meg Ryan and Adam Brody. That same year, Stewart had a small role in the Sean Penn-directed adaptation Into the Wild, portraying Tracy—a teenage singer who has a crush on young adventurer Christopher McCandless (played by Emile Hirsch). While Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com considered her work a "sturdy, sensitive performance", and the Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips noted that she did "vividly well with a sketch of a role", Variety critic Dennis Harvey said, "It's unclear whether Stewart means to be playing hippie-chick Tracy as vapid, or whether it just comes off that way." The film received Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. After Into the Wild, Stewart had a cameo appearance in Jumper and also appeared in What Just Happened, which was released in October 2008. She co-starred in The Cake Eaters, an independent film that has been screened only at film festivals. The film received positive reviews. Critic Bill Goodykoontz from The Arizona Republic said that Stewart "really shines.... She excels at both aspects of the performance, giving Georgia a strength that defies any sort of pity one might feel for her, without letting us forget her vulnerability".

Continued Twilight success and dramatic roles (2010s)

Stewart starred in The Yellow Handkerchief, which debuted at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and was released in theaters in 2010. She also starred alongside James Gandolfini in Welcome to the Rileys, which premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. That same year, Stewart portrayed rock star Joan Jett in The Runaways, a biographical film of the titular band from writer-director Floria Sigismondi. Stewart met with Jett to prepare for the role and prerecorded songs in a studio for the film. Praising Stewart's performance, the Metro Times' Bill Holdship wrote, "It turns out that Stewart is actually really good at capturing Jett's icy, tough-but-cool girl swagger, adding the needed touches of vulnerability that transform it into a pretty terrific performance... Stewart is a genuine rock star here." Also, A. O. Scott of The New York Times noted a "watchful and unassuming" Stewart "gives the movie its spine and soul." At the 63rd British Academy Film Awards in February 2010, Stewart won the BAFTA Rising Star Award.

Stewart topped Forbes' list of "Hollywood's Best Actors for the Buck" in 2011. She was listed as the 13th highest-earning entertainment industry figure in Vanity Fair's "Hollywood's Top 40" list in the same year, with an estimated earning of $28.5 million for her film roles during the year. Forbes also ranked her as the world's highest-paid actress in 2012, with total earnings of $34.5 million.

The fourth installment in the Twilight film series, Breaking Dawn – Part 1, was released on November 18, 2011. The Village Voice's Dan Konis said Stewart "beautifully underplays" the role, while Emma Dibdin of Total Film described the relationship between Stewart and Pattinson's characters as "like a sad, destructive charade" despite the actors' chemistry.

On January 13, 2012, she became the face of a new unnamed Balenciaga perfume; in June, its name was promoted as "Florabotanica". Stewart starred as Snow White in the film Snow White and the Huntsman (2012). Stewart appeared as Mary Lou in On the Road, the film adaptation of Jack Kerouac's novel of the same name. She concluded the role of Bella Swan in Breaking Dawn – Part 2, released in November 2012. The film attracted a mixed critical response but found success during its box office run, grossing $830 million worldwide and becoming the 81st highest-grossing film. The Twilight film series, dubbed The Twilight Saga, generated $3.32 billion worldwide, making it one of the highest-grossing film franchises. According to Forbes, Stewart was the world's highest-paid actress in 2012, with total earnings of $34.5 million. She earned $12.5 million each for the last two installments in the Twilight series, including royalties.

Resurgence (2020s)

Stewart starred as actress Jean Seberg in Seberg, directed by Benedict Andrews. It premiered at the 76th Venice International Film Festival in August 2019. While the film received mixed reviews, Stewart's performance received praise. Time magazine declared her performance the 10th best performance of 2019. Stewart returned to mainstream Hollywood with starring roles in the action comedy film Charlie's Angels (2019) and the science fiction film Underwater (2020). Critics were mixed in their reviews of both films, but Stewart's performance in the former was well received. Stewart wrote and directed a short film titled Crickets, as part of the anthology series Homemade which follows stories from 18 filmmakers from around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic isolation. It was co-produced by Pablo Larraín's production company, Fabula. The series was released on Netflix on June 30, 2020. Stewart later starred opposite Mackenzie Davis in Happiest Season, an LGBT holiday romance film directed by Clea DuVall, which was released on November 25, 2020.

In June 2020, Stewart was announced as having been cast as Diana, Princess of Wales in Pablo Larraín's biographical drama film Spencer, which chronicles Diana's decision to divorce Charles, Prince of Wales. She worked with a dialect coach and studied Diana's posture for the part. Describing Diana as someone who "sticks out as a sparkly house on fire", Stewart said she "felt more free and alive and able to move" in the role than she did in any of her previous projects. The film premiered at the 78th Venice International Film Festival in September 2021 and released in November that same year. Critics lauded Stewart's portrayal of Diana, with Jonathan Romney of Screen Daily describing it as "brittle, tender, sometimes playful and not a little uncanny" and Kyle Buchanan of The New York Times deeming her casting "a meta stroke of genius". Stewart received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for her performance.

Stewart played an investigator in the film Crimes of the Future. It premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. In his review, Todd McCarthy of Deadline Hollywood described Stewart's portrayal as "oddly nervous". In 2023, Stewart was selected as Jury President for the competition section of 73rd Berlin International Film Festival held in February. In 2024, Stewart starred in writer-director Rose Glass's romantic thriller Love Lies Bleeding. She also starred with Michael Angarano and Michael Cera in Angarano's road film Sacramento.

Public image

Stewart ranked number 7 on AskMen's list of "Top 99 Women" for 2013. Glamour UK named her the best-dressed woman in 2012, 2013, and 2016. In 2020, Stewart received the Actress of the Decade Award by the Hollywood Critics Association.

Personal life

Stewart resides in Los Angeles. In 2017, she stated that she was bisexual, saying, "You're not confused if you're bisexual. It's not confusing at all. For me, it's quite the opposite." Later, in 2026, during an appearance on the podcast In Your Dreams With Owen Thiele, she described herself as a lesbian. In 2019, Stewart stated that she had been advised not to be affectionate with her girlfriend in public, in order to land mainstream roles. She said: "I don't want to work with people like that." Stewart identifies as a feminist. She has equinophobia, the fear of horses.

Stewart dated Anton Yelchin when they were filming Fierce People; she described him as her "first heartbreak". After their relationship ended, Stewart dated her Speak co-star Michael Angarano from 2005 to early 2009.

In mid-2009, Stewart became romantically linked to her Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson. In July 2012, Stewart was photographed with her Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders, revealing an affair; the day the photos were released, Sanders, who was 19 years her senior and married at the time, issued a public apology for the affair, as did Stewart. The media backlash from the revelation caused a large emotional toll on Stewart. Stewart said the affair happened during a self-destructive moment in her life and called it "a really traumatic period in my early 20s that kick-started something in me that was a bit more feral." Pattinson and Stewart broke up, but late in October 2012 they reconciled, until May 2013 when they ended their relationship permanently.

In mid-2013, Stewart started dating visual effects producer Alicia Cargile. She briefly dated French singer Soko in the spring of 2016, before she resumed dating Cargile in mid-2016. Stewart briefly dated musician St. Vincent in late 2016. From late 2016, she was in a relationship with New Zealand model Stella Maxwell until their breakup in late 2018. Stewart has been in a relationship with screenwriter Dylan Meyer since August 2019, and stated in November 2021 that she and Meyer were engaged. The couple were married in a private ceremony in Los Angeles on April 20, 2025.

Charity work

In 2012, Stewart signed and donated the dress she wore to the premiere of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 to a CharityBuzz auction benefiting the Robin Hood Foundation's Sandy Relief Fund, which provides long-term support to those affected by Hurricane Sandy. In 2016, she participated in building a school in Nicaragua through the nonprofit buildOn, with the goal being to give children the opportunity to become educated in a safe space and to break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy. The following year, she raised $500,000 for Hurricane Sandy relief by meeting with an unnamed "Middle Eastern prince" for 15 minutes.

In early 2026, Stewart said she purchased the Highland Theatre, a three-story movie and live theater located at 5604 N. Figueroa Street in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, with plans to re-open it, following its closure in 2024.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Stewart has received a César Award, Milano Film Festival Award, Young Artist Award, and the BAFTA Rising Star Award. She won a National Society of Film Critics, New York Film Critics Circle, and Boston Society of Film Critics Award for her performance in Clouds of Sils Maria. She has also been nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Critics' Choice Movie Award for her performance in Spencer.