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Twilight star Kristen Stewart is set to play Princess Diana in a new period drama about the Royal’s life, an intriguing casting choice that set social media ablaze on Wednesday.
Kristen, 30, has signed on to the movie Spencer, that will dramatise a ‘critical’ weekend in the early 1990s, when Diana decided that her marriage to Prince Charles wasn’t working, Deadline reports.
However, many were quick to react negatively to the news on on Twitter, with users joking: ‘What could possibly go wrong?’ while another said: ‘Couldn’t you have found a British actress?’
Royal role: Kristen Stewart will play Princess Diana in new biopic Spencer… depicting the ‘moment she decided her marriage to Prince Charles wasn’t working’
‘Plenty of British actresses who would have been better for this role, Princess Diana was classy, Kristen is not. They don’t even look alike,’ another tweet read, and one simply said: ‘Kristen Stewart playing Princess Diana is wrong on so many levels.’
Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín defended his decision to cast the American actress in the role, telling Deadline: ‘Kristin is one of the greatest actors around today.’
Pablo directed Natalie Portman in the 2016 Jackie Kennedy biopic Jackie, which earned the star a Best Actress Oscar nomination.
Princess: Kristen, 30, has signed on to the movie Spencer, that will dramatize a ‘critical’ weekend in the early 1990s
He added: ‘Kristen can be many things, and she can be very mysterious and very fragile an 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. I think she’s going to do something stunning and intriguing at the same time.’
The script written by English screenwriter Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) follows the Princess of Wales realising she ‘needed to veer from a path that put her in line to one day be queen.’
Reaction: Many Twitter users reacted negatively to the news on Wednesday
Wrong: The intriguing casting choice set social media ablaze following the announcement
Funny side: Others appeared to be amused by the casting choice
Support: There were also a fair share of supportive tweets from fans
The story is said to take place over three days during one of Diana’s final Christmases at the House of Windsor in their Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England.
Pablo explained that the film will not delve into Diana’s tragic death, but instead focus on her marriage to Charles and the love she had for children Prince William and Prince Harry.
‘We decided to get into a story about identity, and around how a woman decides somehow, not to be the queen. 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,’ the director said.
Per the report, the movie is expected to be a hot ticket at the virtual Cannes Market, the French film festival which will not be taking place in its usual fashion due to coronavirus.
Anguished: Many Twitter users expressed their dismay at the news
Suggestions: Many tweets mentioned Florence Pugh as a better choice, with one saying they would prefer to see the 5′ 4″ British actress play 5′ 10″ Diana ‘on stilts’
Production on the film – titled Spencer in reference to Diana’s maiden name – is not expected to begin until early 2021.
Charles and Diana were married from July 29, 1981 to August 28, 1996, and there has been endless speculation that their union was an unhappy one.
In 2018, veteran royal reporter Robert Jobson – who toured the world with Charles – claimed Charles wanted to pull out of his wedding to Diana when he realised how ‘incompatible’ the pair were.
Diana also infamously speculated over Charles’ affair with Camilla Parker Bowles in her 1995 interview with BBC Panorama when she said: ‘Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.’
Depiction: The troubled marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana will be the subject of the new film (Pictured above in Sicily British royal tour of Italy in 1985)
At the age of just 36, Diana died in the early hours of 31 August 1997 after being injured in a car crash in a road tunnel in Paris. Her partner at the time, Dodi Fayed, and their driver, Henri Paul, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Meanwhile, American actress Kristen is not the first star to play the Royal on the big screen. Oscar-nominated actress Naomi Watts played the role in the 2013 drama Diana, that focused on the last two years of her life, but was ruthlessly mocked by critics at the time.
Despite her work in teen movie fare with Twilight, Kristen won a supporting-actress César in 2015 for the film Cloud of Sils Maria, making her the first American actress to take home France’s most coveted acting award.
Actresses that have played Princess Diana
Naomi Watts as Princess Diana in the 2013 movie Diana
Naomi Watts in Diana (2013)
British-Australian actress Naomi Watts famously played the Princess of Wales in the 2013 movie Diana which was derided by critics at the time. ‘Diana might have been flawed and scheming and love-starved, but this film doesn’t help explain that. Nor does it illuminate the common touch and humanitarian side that endeared her to a global audience,’ film critic Suzanne S. Brown wrote. Even Naomi herself would later admit that the film was a ‘sinking ship’.
Emma Corrin in The Crown (2020)
Newcomer Emma Corrin was cast as Princess Diana in the fourth season of The Crown in 2019. Fans have yet to see the actress in the role though, as streaming giant Netflix has not released the next season of the show. However, the actress was pictured filming on location in Manchester in February earlier this year.
Newcomer: Emma Corrin was cast as Princess Diana in the fourth season of The Crown in 2019
Lesley Harcourt in William & Catherine (2011)
Scottish actress Lesley Harcourt – who has had roles in British crime drama Taggart – played Diana in this cheesy Hallmark movie in 2011. The TV drama was described as ‘superficial fun’ by critics and not taken very seriously.
Genevieve O’Reilly in Diana: Last Days Of A Princess (2007)
This Channel 5 docu-drama starred Irish actress Genevieve O’Reilly, who is perhaps best known for her work in the Star Wars franchise as Mon Mothma. It certainly fared better than other projects, with a review in The New York Times praising it: ‘It portrays her as needy but manipulative, loving but flawed — in other words, as a human being. Blending documentary techniques and scripted drama, it gives a surprisingly credible picture of the princess’s last summer.’
Made-for-TV: Irish actress Genevieve O’Reilly played Diana in 2007’s Diana: Last Days Of A Princess
Serena Scott Thomas in Diana: Her True Story (1993)
Based on the publication of the same name by Andrew Morton, British actress and model Serena Scott Thomas also found some praise for her portrayal in this made-for-TV movie. Entertainment Weekly said Serena showed ‘great charm’ in the role, but said she ‘more closely resembles a softer version of Murphy Brown‘s Faith Ford than she does the angular princess.’ Interestingly, Serena later played Carole Middleton in the 2011 TV movie William & Kate, depicting the courtship between the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Amy Seccombe in Diana: A Tribute To The People’s Princess (1998)
This ill-advised Princess Diana tribute was released just a year after her death, and starred little known actress Amy Seccombe for the part. The project was largely ignored upon release and thought to be distasteful. Seccombe’s only other role after the TV movie was playing a medic on the TV show Operation Good Guys.
Cheesy: Amy Seccombe and George Jackos play Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed in the TV movie The People’s Princess
Julie Cox in Princess In Love (1996)
Based on James Hewitt’s book, this American TV movie follows the relationship that blossomed himself between Diana. The role went to British actress Julie Cox who was recently seen in the crime drama Broadchurch. The title failed to have much impact upon its release.
Caroline Bliss in Charles And Diana: A Royal Love Story (1982)
This 1982 American made-for-television biographical drama starred Catherine Oxenberg as Diana, Christopher Baines as Prince Charles, and Hollywood royalty Olivia de Havilland as Queen Elizabeth. It originally aired September 20, 1982 on CBS. One damning review from The Washington Post called it a piece of ‘slack-jawed heraldic voyeurism incapable of, and apparently uninterested in, transforming remote news figures into believable mortals.’
US versions: (L-R) Caroline Bliss IN Charles And Diana: A Royal Love Story (1982), AND Julie Cox in Princess In Love (1996)
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