Kristen Stewart spoke to The London Times about her feature directorial debut, The Chronology of Water, saying that actresses were treated like “shit” and that it was only when she was seen as a director that people started “talking to her like she was a human being with a brain.”
“Actresses are treated badly, I have to say,” Stewart said. “People think anyone can be an actress, but the first time I sat down as a director to talk about my film, I thought, wow, this is a different experience. They talk to me like I’m a person with a brain.”
He added, “There’s this idea that directors have ethereal abilities, and that’s not true. It’s an idea perpetuated by men. I don’t mean to sound like I’m complaining all the time, but it’s worse for female actors than male actors. They’re treated like dolls, which they really aren’t. Imogen[Poots]put her heart and soul into this movie.”
Stewart famously began her career headlining the “Twilight” series and went on to become a powerhouse in the arthouse scene, starring in films such as “Seberg,” “Underwater,” “Spenser” and “Love Lies Bleeding.” Stewart jumped into the world of film directing with the release of The Chronology of Water, which premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and was released in theaters on January 9th, with Poots playing Lydia, a woman who comes to terms with her traumatic past through competitive swimming and written words.
This isn’t the first time Stewart has spoken out about the experience of women in Hollywood. In a recent profile in the New York Times, she said that while male actors are “exaggerated to hold their own” in their craft, women don’t receive the same treatment.
“There’s something that we often do on set before a performance begins. If[male actors]can step out of their vulnerability and feel like a gorilla puff out their chest before crying on camera, it makes them feel a little less embarrassed,” she said. “It also makes it look like a magic trick, as if what you’re doing is so impossible that no one else can do it.”
