Since the release of her directorial debut The Chronology of Water in festival circuits, Kristen Stewart has been vocal about her struggles in Hollywood and the effort it takes to make an indie project. Speaking to Variety, the Twilight star called out the treatment of female actors' in the industry and stated that they are looked at like "puppets".
"Actresses get treated like shit, I've got to tell you. People think anyone could be an actress, but the first time I sat down to talk about my movie as a director, I thought, wow, this is a different experience. They are talking to me like I'm somebody with a brain," she revealed in an interview with Variety.
Opening up about her own experiences, she added, "There's this idea that directors have otherworldly abilities, which is not true. It's an idea perpetuated by men. Not to sound like I'm complaining all the time, but it's worse for female actors than male ones -- they get treated like puppets, but they are not. Imogen Poots put her whole body and soul into this movie."
This is not the first time that Kristen Stewart has voiced her opinion on the conditions that women face in Hollywood. "There's a common act that happens before the acting happens on set: If male actors can protrude out of the vulnerability and feel like a gorilla pounding their chest before they cry on camera, it's a little less embarrassing. It also makes it seem like a magic trick, like it is so impossible to do what you're doing that nobody else could do it," she said, further adding that men are "aggrandised for retaining self", while women are not.
Stewart's recent film The Chronology of Water premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and received a standing ovation for 6.5 minutes. The film stars Imogen Poots, Thora Birch, Susannah Flood, Tom Sturridge, Kim Gordon, Michael Epp and Jim Belushi in leading roles and is based on a memoir by Lidia Yuknavitch.
According to the film's plotline, "The Chronology of Water traces Lidia’s life from her earliest memories in the Pacific Northwest, as a promising swimmer, through fractured relationships, near-motherhood, addiction, and encounters with artistic heroes."
"The story transforms trauma into art, embodying Yuknavitch’s defiant voice that made her work a modern cult classic. It is not only a chronicle of a woman becoming a writer, but a visceral journey through the wreckage and resilience of a life lived against the grain," it further read in its description.
Kristen Stewart co-wrote the screenplay with Andy Mingo.