Kristen Stewart on Her Directorial Debut: ‘If I Don’t Make This Movie Before the End of the Year, I’ll Die’
Samantha Bergeson
The real crime of the future? Kristen Stewart not making her directorial debut in 2022.
The “Crimes of the Future” star told IndieWire at this year’s Cannes Film Festival that her highly anticipated adaptation of Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir “The Chronology of Water” better be coming sooner rather than later.
“If I don’t make this movie before the end of the year, I’ll die,” Stewart said.
However, the Oscar nominee has yet to secure total financing for the film, partially due to the fact that she wants to work with a small crew of five people, with a loose shooting schedule along the Oregon coast.
Stewart meanwhile noted that with all her “Crimes of the Future” promotional duties, the cinephile hasn’t been able to see many movies at Cannes. “To be honest, I prefer links,” she said. “I have a great projector.”
Stewart has been linked to “Chronology of Water” since 2018, confirming at the Cannes Film Festival four years ago to the date that novelist Yuknavitch’s prose was deeply personal to her: “She’s in my blood,” Stewart said at the time, “and I knew that before I met her. As soon as I met her it was like we started this race without any sense of competition…My only goal is just to finish the screenplay and hire a really spectacular actor: I’m going to write the best fucking female role. I’m going to write a role that I want so badly but that I’m not going to play.”
“The Chronology of Water” focuses on author Yuknavitch coming to terms with her bisexuality, addiction issues, and involvement with the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement opposing Israeli oppression of Palestine. Stewart called Yuknavitch’s writing “so physical and so fiercely, ragingly female.”
Stewart noted previously noted to Variety that pre-production is “in process” as of March 2022. The lead role was also recently cast earlier this year, which was “monumentally relieving” to Stewart.
“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,'” the “Spencer” star said of the yet-unannounced actress in the lead. “She’s the one who’s going to have to do it, and it’s really hard, so I’m over the moon.”
Stewart continued “I talked to someone with a lot of money two days ago, and she seemed excited about the prospect, but I want it to be small. I think the best version of it really is. The freezing water that I’m going to throw this girl into, I already feel terrible. It’s such a huge ask to invite someone onto this particular thing.”
Eric Kohn contributed reporting.
