- Title: Kristen Stewart talks fame and politcs as she channels Jean Seberg in Venice
- Date: 30th August 2019
- Summary: VENICE, ITALY (AUGUST 30, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** ACTRESS KRISTEN STEWART GETTING OFF BOAT AND WALKING ON TO JETTY / WALKING TOWARDS FANS VARIOUS OF STEWART SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS AND POSING FOR SELFIES FANS WATCHING STEWART SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS / WALKING AWAY
- Embargoed: 13th September 2019 15:49
- Keywords: Venice Film Festival Seberg Kristen Stewart Zazie Beetz Benedict Andrews
- Location: VENICE, ITALY / VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
- City: VENICE, ITALY / VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: Italy
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Film
- Reuters ID: LVA001AUEUL3H
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS PROFANITY IN SHOT 9
Kristen Stewart talked politics and the pressure of fame at a Venice presser for "Seberg" on Friday (August 30).
The 29-year-old plays the actress Jean Seberg in a new political thriller detailing how she was targeted by the FBI in the late 1960s in the COINTELPRO surveillance programme for her personal and political links to activist Hakim Jamal.
Seberg began her career as a teenager, portraying Joan of Arc in Otto Preminger's "Saint. Joan" but it was her role in Jean-Luc Godard's "Breathless" in 1960 that turned her in a French New Wave star.
A supporter of the civil rights movement, the film begins with Seberg meeting Jamal, played by Anthony Mackie, on a plane. Their relationship draws the attention of the FBI, and agents, played by Jack O'Connell and Vince Vaughn tap her home as they seek to expose their affair and discredit the actress.
The film, which premieres at the Venice Film Festival on Friday in and out of competition screening, follows Seberg's realisation of being watched and the impact it has on her.
Asked about actors being political today, Stewart she had no qualms in voicing her opinions.
"There's this really sort of polarised climate that we're living in right now, it's not hard for me to wear my politics," she said.
"It shows up in the work that I do and the people I associate myself with and the conversations that I have with individual journalists, day in and day out. I like that interaction. I'm so lucky to have it."
Stewart, who found global fame as a teenager when she starred in the "Twilight" movies and will soon be seen in the "Charlie's Angels" reboot, also said she now felt more comfortable living in the public eye.
"There's a difference, and for a minute a couple years ago I definitely felt like 'ugh, I have to like protect myself', and I'm so completely unguarded now, it's a beautiful feeling."
Forty years after Seberg died, Stewart said she wants to show the world that the star of French New Wave should be known for more than just her short haircut.
"To sacrifice something that you really love for other people is a really admirable and cool and courageous thing to see," Stewart said.
"This person's story is so tragic for all the right reasons and we should definitely know her for more than the short haircut and the movies."
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