Kristen Stewart on how Juliette Binoche’s brilliance drives her “fucking crazy”
Kristen Stewart is completely enamoured with the art of filmmaking, having started in the industry as a child and forged an unconventional path to stardom. After Twilight propelled her to global fame, she did everything in her power to redefine her image, moving away from blockbuster franchises to collaborate with bold and unorthodox filmmakers such as David Cronenberg, Kelly Reichardt, and Olivier Assayas.
Stewart has frequently expressed her passion for every aspect of the medium, emphasising the significance of each crew role and her genuine love for being on set. Over the years, she has built an eclectic and undefinable filmography, portraying figures as varied as Princess Diana and Joan Jett, as well as lonely lawyers and assistants trapped in imbalanced power dynamics.
However, Stewart has also spoken about the influence of the actors she has worked with, describing the wisdom bestowed onto her as a child by Jodie Foster, the genius of Jesse Eisenberg and Julienne Moore. But from all of her past colleagues, she described one actor in a slightly less flowery way, perhaps mirroring the complicated relationship between the characters they both play.
Olivier Assayas is one of the most mysterious and enigmatic filmmakers working today, creating an intricate web of interpersonal dynamics and unspoken conflict in each of his films, often creating a meta-commentary on the relationship between life and art itself. His tone is distinctly ambiguous and unsettling, creating long and slow-burning stories that aren’t immediately obvious, instead leading the audience to an abundance of questions that resist clear answers.
While the director is best known for films like Irma Vep, Personal Shopper and Summer Hours, he is also known for his consistent working relationship with Stewart, working with her on Personal Shopper and Clouds of Sils Maria, the latter leading her to work alongside the legendary Juliette Binoche.
The film follows an ageing actor rehearsing for a play that she starred in when she was much younger. She rehearses in the remote mountains of Sils Maria with her assistant, causing friction between them as their relationship begins to reflect that between the characters in the play.
The pair’s electric chemistry leaves you feeling constantly unsettled and on edge, unable to tell whether they are simply reading lines or having genuine confrontations. Their chemistry blurs the line between fiction and reality with a sinister yet restrained undertone that reflects their repressed tension.
While discussing the process of working together, Stewart described how the pair had very different ways of approaching the craft, with Stewart preferring to improvise and having a spontaneous approach to scene work, while Binoche is more precise. Stewart jokingly described how this culminated in a clash while performing one particularly heated scene, with both characters pretending to like each other while secretly harbouring jealousy and resentment towards the other.
Stewart joked about not needing to act while performing these scenes, saying that Binoche “drives me fucking crazy”.
There is an undeniable chemistry between them and while Stewart jokes about their differences during production, it is clear that she has the utmost respect and reverence for her and this only strengthened their on-screen bond.
