Head tilt? Check. Sullen eyes? Double check. Iconic wardrobe? Yep, that sure looks like Princess Diana.
While some feared that casting Kristen Stewart as the former Lady Diana Spencer in a biopic might spell disaster given the spotty track record of portrayals of the princess on the big screen, the actor looks positively royal in the first look at Pablo Larrain’s “Spencer.”
In the photo released Wednesday, Stewart channels Diana as she solemnly stares out the window, dressed in a red blazer and black blouse with a matching hat and fascinator, which sits atop her signature feathered shag.
The “Twilight” alum will star as the late princess in an upcoming biographical movie from the “Jackie” filmmaker that focuses on a “critical weekend” in the early 1990s, when she ultimately decides her marriage to Prince Charles is beyond repair.
“December, 1991: The Prince and Princess of Wales’ marriage has long since grown cold,” the film’s official synopsis reads. “Though rumours of affairs and a divorce abound, peace is ordained for the Christmas festivities at Sandringham Estate. There’s eating and drinking, shooting and hunting. Diana knows the game. This year, things will be a whole lot different.”
Principal photography on the project has already begun with filming taking place in Germany and the United Kingdom. The film, which also stars Timothy Spall, Sally Hawkins and Sean Harris, is expected to launch in fall 2021, a year before the 25th anniversary of Diana’s death.
Stewart teased that the film is a “dive inside an emotional imagining of who Diana was at a pivotal turning point in her life,” as the princess wrestles with an identity crisis of sorts.
“It is a physical assertion of the sum of her parts, which starts with her given name; Spencer,” she continued in the press release. “It is a harrowing effort for her to return to herself, as Diana strives to hold onto what the name Spencer means to her.”
The “Charlie’s Angels” star recently pulled back the curtain on how she prepared to play the late royal, revealing that mastering Diana’s unmistakable lilt was the biggest challenge.
“The accent is intimidating as all hell because people know that voice, and it’s so, so distinct and particular,” Stewart told InStyle magazine in October, explaining that she consulted a slew of biographies and texts as part of her research. “I’m working on it now and already have my dialect coach.”
“It’s one of the saddest stories to exist ever, and I don’t want to just play Diana — I want to know her implicitly,” she continued. “I haven’t been this excited about playing a part, by the way, in so long.”