Kristen Stewart is spilling the royal tea on the making of her new movie Spencer.
In the film, the 31-year-old actress plays the late Princess Diana. Set during a holiday weekend at Sandringham Estate in the '90s, the drama imagines what it was like for the Princess of Wales when she knew her marriage to Prince Charles wasn't working and that she'd have to forge a new path.
During an interview with The Los Angeles Times, Stewart discussed a few of the scenes, including one where Diana communes with the ghost of Anne Boleyn. When asked if she's had any paranormal encounters herself, the Twilight alum admitted she hasn't but that she "felt some spooky, spiritual feelings" while making the film, "even if I was just fantasizing."
"I felt like there were moments where I kind of got the sign-off," she continued. "It's scary to tell a story about someone who's not alive anymore and who already felt so invaded. I never wanted to feel like we were invading anything, just that we were kind of adding to the multiplicity of a beautiful thing."
Stewart was then asked if there were times she could actually feel Diana with her. "She felt so alive to me when I was making this movie, even if it's all between the ears and it was just a fantasy of mine," the star told the newspaper. "But there were moments where my body and mind would forget she was dead. And suddenly, I would just have an image of what happened. And remember who she left behind. And I was amazed by the renewed emotion. Every single time. Maybe two or three times a week, I would just fully break down about the fact that she had died. I just could not come to terms with it, because I was fighting to keep her alive every single day."
While Stewart noted "our movie is dramatized as hell" and compared it to a ballet, she reiterated "it was still a fight to keep her alive every day" and said remembering Diana is dead "was just absolutely lacerating."
"It just destroyed me constantly," she continued. "And that itself felt spiritual ... there were times where I was like, 'Oh, God,' almost like she was, you know, trying to break through. It was weird. And amazing. I've never felt anything like it in my life."
Stewart has previously discussed the work she put into the role. For instance, she told Jimmy Kimmel she'd fall asleep with recordings of Diana's voice in her head. And during her chat with The L.A. Times, she shared she worked with a dialect coach and studied posture.
The movie premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, but fans will have to wait until Nov. 5 to see it in theaters (although, you can check out the trailer here if you can't wait until then).
To learn more about the film, scroll on.
Kristen Stewart's casting as Princess Diana was announced in June 2020. At the time, director Pablo Larraín told Deadline that the actress was "one of the great actors around today." He added, "To do this well, you need something very important in film, which is mystery. Kristen can be many things, and she can be very mysterious and very fragile and ultimately very strong as well, which is what we need. The combination of those elements made me think of her."
"The way she responded to the script and how she is approaching the character, it's very beautiful to see," he continued. "I think she's going to do something stunning and intriguing at the same time. She is this force of nature."
The film is based on real-life events. Spencer, which is Diana's maiden name, takes place in December 1991, when she and Prince Charles spent a Christmas holiday with the royal family at one of Queen Elizabeth II's additional residences, in Sandringham, England. That weekend, she made the decision to leave her husband, following much relationship turmoil. The two ultimately divorced in August 1996 after 15 years of marriage.
"We decided to get into a story about identity, and around how a woman decides somehow, not to be the queen," Pablo Larraín told Deadline in June 2020. "She's a woman who, in the journey of the movie, decides and realizes that she wants to be the woman she was before she met Charles."
Spencer is set for release in fall 2021.
It was confirmed in March 2021 that Jack Farthing was cast as Prince Charles, Diana's husband. He is known for roles in the BBC drama series Poldark and the network's comedy Blandings. He also appeared with Olivia Munn in the Netflix movie Love, Wedding, Repeat.
German model Olga Hellsing will make her acting debut as Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson, the Duchess of York and now ex-wife of Prince Charles' brother Prince Andrew, Deadline reported in March 2021.
British-German actor Thomas Douglas will play Diana's father, Earl John Spencer, Deadline reported in March 2021. He previously appeared in the 2020 miniseries Labyrinth of Peace and the crime series Tatort, Germany's longest-running TV drama.
Timothy Spall, who played Wormtail in the Harry Potter films and also starred with Jack Farthing on the comedy show Blandings, The Shape of Water and Blue Jasmine actress Sally Hawkins and Mission: Impossible movie series star Sean Harris also appear in Spencer, Deadline reported in January 2021.