Kristen Stewart is one of those actresses who have been acclaimed one too many times, and that still ranks as not enough in front of her remarkable performances for the screens. Yet, as terrific an actor she is, her interest now lies in some other thing as well: directing.
And although she won’t be quitting acting full-time, fans might not be able to see her onscreen for quite some time.
This is because of the firm promise she has made to herself and her audiences, that she would not be making another movie until and unless she finishes the project that would mark her feature directorial debut: The Chronology of Water.
Until then, all those fans who had been awaiting more movies from Stewart besides the ones that will be released this year will have to wait.
Kristen Stewart Won’t Make Another Movie Until Her Feature Directorial Debut
Back in 2018, at the Cannes Film Festival, Kristen Stewart made it evident that she would soon be making her feature directorial debut through her own adaptation of author Lidia Yuknavitch’s 2011 memoir, The Chronology of Water.
But even after more than half a decade since, the project hasn’t gone too far, with the Twilight alum struggling to find financing for it. While this has frustrated her all the more, the actress has also revealed that she will not be making another movie until this project takes off.
As she said during a recent interview with Variety:
“I’m going to make this movie before I ever work for someone else,” she said, laughing nervously. “Yeah, I will quit the f—ing business. I won’t make a-f—ing-nother movie until I make this movie. I will tell you that, for sure. I think that will get things going.”
While this statement clearly points out how passionate and desperate she is to bring the memoir to life, Stewart also admits that it was a bit “extreme” of her to say that. Nonetheless, she’s sticking to her word. As she said while speaking with The Hollywood Reporter recently:
“That was an extreme thing to say,” she noted. “But I really won’t. I have to do it, I think Sundance is definitely a place to understand that the only reason that you should make something is because you need to do it.”
So far, judging from her statements, if fans really want to see Kristen Stewart’s next movies after Love Me and Love Lies Bleeding — which would be released this year — they would have to wait until the actress finally managed to take off with The Chronology of Water.
Why Kristen Stewart Is So Desperate To Make The Chronology of Water
Continuing to talk to THR, Kristen Stewart further emphasized her point and desperation to make The Chronology of Water, i.e. the movie that would serve as her feature directorial debut. She said:
“There’s this sort of essential, vital thing about making marginalized art and being on the sidelines and then coming to a place where you’re like, dude, we do hear you. If I keep working for other people, even if I’m inspired and totally in love with those stories, what am I doing? Of course, I want to make my movie. Yeah, that’s all I want to do.”
But there’s an even bigger reason behind the Spencer star wanting to bring Yuknavitch’s work to life: she wishes to make the chaotic yet cognitive stream prose into a cinematic experience, all the while highlighting the author’s trauma and everything she experienced and the reason behind it all.
As she continued to share with Variety during her interview for the magazine’s January 11, 2024 cover story: “It’s not about the plot. It’s about someone self-Heimliching and contextualizing why that person has swallowed their own voice their whole life.”
Thus, even though the “certain physicality” she wishes to show in her adaptation would be “really unattractive to quote-unquote ‘buyers,’” Kristen Stewart is willing to risk it all, for she believes her version of The Chronology of Water would be “entirely pervasively moving.”
