TMS Discussion: Are You Team KStew or AKen?

(Summit Entertainment)

NOTE: This article was originally written for Times of San Diego in 2016.

Fifteen years ago, Catherine Hardwicke’s Twilight (2008) was released, following Stephenie Meyer’s original young adult novel in 2005, and assisted in the notoriety and craze of the franchise. The two actors chosen to play leads Bella Swan and Edward Cullen were Kristen Stewart, at the time famous for playing Jodie Foster’s daughter in David Fincher’s Panic Room (2002), and Robert Pattinson of Mike Newell’s Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). The supporting cast included heartthrobs and starlets Taylor Lautner, Jackson Rathbone, Ashley Greene, Nikki Reed and Anna Kendrick. For the next four years, the young cast attempted to develop legitimate leading man or leading lady careers, but few would reach the top.

Pattinson quickly embraced the arthouse scene with directors like David Cronenberg, Robert Eggers, Claire Denis and Josh & Benny Safdie after five years of being every teen girl’s favorite vampire; and he’s currently the latest actor to portray the caped crusader of Matt Reeves’ The Batman (2022). Lautner, Rathbone, Greene and Reed all continue to have roles in random movie and TV programs. But the biggest up-and-comers to breakthrough would turn out to be Stewart and Kendrick. At the time of the first film’s release, most over the age of 18 made fun of Pattinson and Stewart for ‘selling out,’ being charisma vacuums, and predicted their relevancy would be a flash in the pan. Kendrick on the other hand, had previous Broadway experience when she was 12 with Cole Porter’s ‘High Society’ in 1998, indie cred with Jeffrey Blitz’s Rocket Science (2007), a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air in 2009, and was constantly singled out as the one Twilight actor too good for the franchise.

(Stefanie Keenan)

With exceptions like Jonathan Levine’s 50/50 (2011), David Ayer’s End of Watch (2012), Rob Marshall’s Into the Woods (2014) and Paul Feig’s A Simple Favor (2018), many of Kendrick’s movies since her Oscar nom have been underwhelming critically even if financially successful. Though she did luck out with Jason Moore’s Pitch Perfect (2012) and Mike Mitchell’s Trolls (2016), plus each film’s sequels, finding big followings. Stewart meanwhile, was considered box-office poison in studio films like Jon Favreau’s Zathura (2005), Doug Liman’s Jumper (2008), Rupert Sanders’ Snow White & the Huntsman (2012), Walter Salles’ On the Road (2012), Nima Nourizadeh’s American Ultra (2015) and Drake Doremus’ Equals (2015). Even Café Society (2016), starring Stewart and frequent co-star Jesse Eisenberg, became the first Woody Allen film to not make back its small budget in over a decade despite the decent reviews.

Where she is aware of her strength is in independent cinema, with Jessica Sharzer’s Speak (2004), Sean Penn’s Into the Wild (2007), Greg Mottola’s Adventureland (2009), Fiona Sigismondi’s The Runaways (2010), Peter Sattler’s Camp X-ray (2014), and Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland’s Still Alice (2014) gaining support from critics. Stewart even surprised everyone by becoming the first American actor to win France’s coveted César Award, for Best Supporting Actress, with Olivier Assayas’ Clouds of Sils Maria (2014); and receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress with Pablo Larrain’s Spencer (2021). So for the last decade, Kendrick has been winning the audiences, while Stewart keeps hold of the critics. In 2016, Kendrick had critical duds of John Krasinski’s The Hollars, Dylan Kidd’s Get a Job, Jake Szymanski’s Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates and Gavin O’Connor’s The Accountant, with the last two making profit. Stewart had Café Society, Kelly Reichardt’s Certain Women, Assayas’ Personal Shopper and Ang Lee’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. The first two have acclaim, and Shopper raised eyebrows at Cannes for its sexual context, but Stewart was still singled out as a highlight. But a turn of events occurred when the animated family musical, Trolls, featuring Anna’s voice as the female lead, gained a lot of hype; and the epic visual spectacle of Billy Lynn’s with Kristen was met with unexpected boos during screenings.

Some actors’ main goal is respect from their peers and the industry. Others are happy just to get work regularly. Nothing wrong with either preference, though each career direction can shape a public image. Kendrick and Stewart are on the opposite end of the spectrum and appear to be happy doing their own things. Both have different goals and interests film-wise, and it will be interesting to see where their trajectories and personas go in the real twilight years.