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you got to know her and work with her, what were the discoveries you
made about Kristen Stewart, as an actress, especially with how people
perceive her from the Twilight Saga movies?
RUPERT SANDERS: I think what I realized is that she’s such a good
actor that everyone thinks she’s Bella Swan. They believe that that’s
her. Obviously, an actor is playing a role. She is nothing like Bella.
And, I got on really well with Kristen. It was great. As I was writing
stuff, she was there. We had a lot of conversations, seeing through her
eyes. We really hard on developing that character together. I was just
amazed at her talent, really. She’s incredibly good at her craft. She’s
incredibly instinctive. She’s incredibly intuitive. She will overcome
fear, like no one I’ve met, when it comes to it. She didn’t really want
to ride a horse. She had a bad horse-riding accident, as a kid. When
you’re riding fast on a horse, with 200 others soldiers on horses riding
behind you, through surf on a beach, that’s terrifying. She really went
there. She crafted the accent, and it’s flawless. She’s a stunning
actor. I saw her first in Panic Room. Then, I saw her again in Into the
Wild. I loved her in The Runaways. I loved her in Welcome to the Rileys.
I think she’s going to be incredible in On the Road. She’s a great
actor, and people just go, “Twilight girl,” which is a testament to her.
She’s kept this pipeline of interesting projects going on the side, so
she’s not just going to be that girl, forever more. She’s a great actor
and she’s made incredibly shrewd decisions for someone who’s half my
age.
Considering that, what were the challenges in ensuring that your film
didn’t get distracted by the fact that this is the girl that so many
people see as Bella Swan?
SANDERS: I’ve never seen the Twilight movies, so I didn’t really
care that much. I met her, I really got on with her, she’s a great
actor, and she was right for the character. That’s it. It was as simple
as that, for me.
People haven’t gotten to see too much of her Snow White in the
trailer footage thus far. Is that indicative of the movie, or are you
just being really selective about how much you show?
SANDERS: No, she’s the lead. I’m not a marketing expert, but the
way it’s positioned, I think we’re starting to bring her in, more and
more. We don’t want to give too much away. We just want to say, “Here’s
the bad person, and here’s someone who’s trying to get to her.” We’ve
only done teaser trailers. The more stuff people see, the more they’ll
see of her and the more they’ll be pretty blown away by what she did.
What does it add to the mythology to make this version of Snow White a warrior princess?
SANDERS: Warrior princess is something that’s external, rather
than being internal to the character. She wears a suit of armor, but
she’s not suddenly Bruce Lee’s adopted sister. She is wearing armor for
protection, and she has to kill a queen. She’s not beheading people. She
doesn’t suddenly acquire these skills. It’s very instinctual and
defensive. She knows she has to kill someone, and that is abhorrent to
her. That sword lies very uneasy in her hand.
How did Kristen Stewart take to the sword work?
SANDERS: I put that sword in her hand, as I would put it in any
of your hands. If I told you someone was going to come through that door
who had done something terrible to you and you had to kill them, I’m
sure you’d fucking give them a good run for their money. That’s really
how she fights. She’s no ninja or samurai. It’s purely reactive.
How did you go about finding Kristen Stewart’s British accent for the role?
SANDERS: If you’re amongst the forest and there’s knights in
armor, all looking chivalrous behind you, and then Snow White says, “Is
that, like, my castle?” So, it was important that she wasn’t
Californian. To fit into the world, all of the characters have accents
from that part of the world. Chris Hemsworth’s accent is Scottish, and
Kristen’s accent is very royal English. She was really great at it, and
she did the work. It’s easy to do an accent for a few minutes, but to be
able to do it without thinking about it, so you can concentrate on the
performance, is very hard. She worked with one of the best British
dialect coaches. It’s hours of work, and she did the work so that she
was flawless. She didn’t need to worry about it, and could get on with
the performance.
Be sure to read this really great interview in full at Collider!