Bella who? Twilight star Kristen Stewart is in Cannes promoting her new film, director Walter Salles' adaptation of Jack Kerouac's Beat classic On the Road, and she seems downright eager to escape "the silly straitjacket of servile moping she has to perform" as Twilight's Bella Swan, says James Rocchi at IndieWire. In On the Road, Stewart trades Bella's "chaste charmlessness" for the "bed-hopping, nudity, and overall sexual licentiousness" of Marylou, the 16-year-old bride of Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund). And this isn't Stewart's only departure from the Twilight mold. In June, she stars as a "badass" action-hero version of Snow White in Snow White and the Huntsman. Can Stewart pull off being more than a tween idol?
Yes. There's definitely life after Bella: It's a revelation to watch Stewart come alive as the "horny and curious" Marylou, says Kyle Buchanan at New York. But it shouldn't be too much of a surprise. Even more than her turn as rocker Joan Jett in The Runaways, Stewart's "confidently sensual" performance in On the Road "reestablishes the promising character actress last seen in Into the Wild and held captive as Twilight's leading lady for years." You can bet there's more where this came from.
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