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The 26-year-old actress, who found global fame as Bella Swan in the hit “Twilight” movies, has been acting since childhood and admits she’s struggled with confidence and self-esteem over the years.
“I understand anxiety, I definitely understand not being able to find balance between mind and body and having to struggle with that, but I feel pretty good in my own skin, luckily. It took some time, but I feel pretty good,’’ she said earlier this week while promoting her new movie, “Personal Shopper,” at the Cannes Film Festival.
However, there are occasional moments when she wishes she was someone else. “Sure, I would love to have a different face that I could put on in the morning so I could go and grab some groceries, but I don’t struggle with that aversion to myself,” she said.
Directed by Olivier Assayas, “Personal Shopper,” a psychological thriller, stars Stewart as a fashion assistant. It follows her acclaimed turn as the personal assistant to a famous actress in Assayas’ earlier film, “Clouds of Sils Maria.”
“I think she’s amazing. I can’t praise her enough,” Assayas said. “I think she’s the most authentic, genuine person and what she gives to a film is amazing.”
Stewart said re-teaming with Assayas was nerve-wracking.
“I was nervous when I read `Personal Shopper’ because he wrote it for me and I was like, `What if I don’t like it? What if it’s not in me?’ The idea of telling him that was unacceptable, but luckily I read the script and it was really just shockingly perfect for me in that moment. It was the right time for me to play that part.”
In the film, her character buys designer clothes and jewelry for a celebrity, while mourning her late twin brother, with whom she believes she can communicate spiritually.
Playing a woman dealing with grief was physically and mentally challenging for Stewart. “To live with that for two and a half months and working 16-hour days and six-day weeks, and working for Chanel on my seventh day, every single week. I really earned the look,” she said, referring to her exhausted and slim appearance in the film.
“I looked like a ghoul by the end of that movie, but that was what I was striving for. So it was hard, but I was so happy the whole time being kind of miserable,” she added.
“Personal Shopper” is screening in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, which closes on Sunday.
AP