Kristen Stewart has spoken about being thrust into the spotlight during the Twilight era, and how she felt her reputation was perceived at the time.
The actress, along with her leading co-star and former boyfriend Robert Pattinson, were heralded as couple goals, inundated with fan fiction and drawings and endured endless scrutiny by the media, especially when their relationship ended in a very high-profile manner in 2013.
Perceptions of Stewart ranged at the time. From the Twilight fandom's mass adoration to criticism of her lack of smiling (familiar to many women in the public eye), reluctance to embrace the spotlight, 'moody' manner or whatever else people felt like complaining about that day.
Reflecting on that era now several years later, Stewart admits she was impacted by people misunderstanding her at the time.
'I used to be really frustrated that because I didn't leap willingly into being at the centre of a certain amount of attention, that it seemed like I was an asshole,' she told Vanity Fair. 'I am in no way rebellious. I am in no way contrarian. I just want people to like me.'
She elaborated on her decision to focus on smaller independent films, post Twilight, as a way of escaping the pressure that came with being Bella Swan.
'I was finally given a chance to be looked at, not as this thing in this celebrity-obsessed culture that was like, "Oh, that's the girl from Twilight".'
Stewart previously spoke to ELLE UK about the pressures she felt starring in such an adored film franchise, explaining that at the height of the fame she went through unbearable amounts of stress.
'I had panic attacks. I used to puke every day and very casually too... I always had a stomach ache and I was a control freak. I couldn't anticipate what was going to happen in a given situation, so I'd be like, "Maybe I'm going to get sick". Then I'd be sick.'
That much pressure so young must have been debilitating, so we're happy to see Stewart tell Vanity Fair that the frustrations she felt over her public image have now dwindled
'I've grown out of it,' she told the magazine.
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