Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett

last updated 8 January 2015

Twilight star Kristen Stewart has signed on to play Joan Jett in an upcoming biopic about the rocker’s 1970s all-girl band The Runaways, said Geeks of Doom, and she’s “the perfect choice.” Stewart is “still a teenager, but she’s 18, so she’s of legal age to play Jett’s sex, drugs, and rock and roll exploits, which began at age 15.” Not to mention Stewart’s “low voice and androgynous” characteristics—we “can’t wait” to see her “with guitar slung low and Jett’s old Suzi Quatro hairstyle!��

But Joan Jett is actually cool, said Josh Tyler in Cinema Blend, while Stewart isn’t. With Stewart in the role, we’ll likely get a mediocre movie in which Jett is played by a “really, really pretty girl.” It would be nice to have her portrayed by “a really solid, younger actress”—someone “with at least a few years, some experience, to put behind Joan’s eyes after she’s been living the rock and roll lifestyle for awhile.”

It’s true, said Erik Davis in Cinematical, Stewart “is a little boring to watch on screen— always playing the confused, distant and awkward teen.” But this could be the perfect opportunity for the young actress to surprise people, to “let her hair down” and “rock out of her shell.” And it’s “refreshing” to see a movie being made about female rockers “for once.”