Video: Kristen's interview at the Zurich Film Festival Variety Lounge

Kristen Stewart, who has been on a festival marathon promoting her new drama “Seberg,” recently sat down with Variety’s Guy Lodge to reflect on her bold career choices ahead of receiving the Zurich Film Festival’s Golden Eye Award.

Speaking at the Variety Lounge presented by Credit Suisse, Stewart said she felt an energetic aligning with Jean Seberg, an icon of the French new wave whose political activism made her the target of the FBI in the late 60’s. “She was such as seminal figure, an icon who had an incredible energy and presence,” said Stewart.

As an actor who is outspoken about social and political issues, Stewart said that while it was “much easier today (than in Seberg’s times) to align with like minded people… we’re always wondering what we should believe and not believe.”

In recent years, Stewart has become one of the most prominent members of the LGBT community within the industry but she said her involvement on that front “never felt imposed.” “I never felt.. I had to do something. I never struggled to get there. I just felt this cool opportunity to be able to communicate with people who had a hard time and (who faced) aggressively oppressive things in their lives that had made it harder for them to be them.”

Up next, Stewart said she looks forward to stepping behind the camera early next year to make her directorial debut with an adaptation of “The Chronology of Water,” a memoir written by Lidia Yuknavitch. “The Chronology of Water” tells the story of a lifelong swimmer who becomes an artist.

“It’s my favorite bit of contemporary writing I ever read. (Yuknavitch) processes the pain and experiences of having a body that’s so confrontationally and honestly true to the female experience,” said Stewart.

Her advice for younger generations of actors: “If it’s something you can not do then you can’t go wrong.” She also said the only thing that really mattered was one’s “interaction with that experience” rather than whether people are watching or talking about it.

Looking back at her experience as a child actor, Stewart said Jodi Foster, with whom she worked on “Panic Room,” was the perfect person to be working with as a young kid. “I got so lucky. She’s kind of the epitome of what you would want as an example.”

“Seberg,” distributed by Amazon Studios, hits theaters Dec. 13.

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