Royal enthusiasts, listen up. Kristen Stewart is set to play Princess Diana in Spencer, a new film about the late Princess of Wales, which centers around three days in the 1990's.
Here's everything we know so far about the buzzy drama, which takes its title from Diana's maiden name, and will be directed by Jackie's Pablo Larraín:
Kristen Stewart stars as the people's princess.
The 31-year-old American actress, best known for her starring role in The Twilight Saga, is playing the iconic British royal. Since her Bella Swan days, Stewart, while very much still in the public eye, has made a point to take on roles in independent movies, in addition to mainstream films like 2019's Charlie's Angels.
Speaking with InStyle, Stewart expressed her enthusiasm about the role. "I haven't been this excited about playing a part, by the way, in so long," she said.
However, playing Princess Diana does not come without its challenges. First off, getting that accent just right. "The accent is intimidating as all hell because people know that voice, and it's so, so distinct and particular," the actress noted. "I'm working on it now and already have my dialect coach."
Stewart also conducted extensive research about the late princess in order to do her justice. "It's one of the saddest stories to exist ever, and I don't want to just play Diana—I want to know her implicitly," she said.
Though the Twilight actress is a seemingly an unconventional choice for the role of Diana, director Larraín is confident in his star.
"To do this well, you need something very important in film, which is mystery," Larraín told Deadline. "Kristen can be many things, and she can be very mysterious and very fragile an ultimately very strong as well, which is what we need."
Larraín also lauded Stewart's acting chops, noting her expressive features. "As a filmmaker, when you have someone who can hold such a weight, dramatic and narrative weight just with her eyes, then you have the strong lead who can deliver what we are looking for," Larraín said.
The movie will be released on November 5.
According to Variety, the film will premiere at the Venice Film Festival, which is scheduled to begin on September 1. As for the general public, Spencer hit theaters November 5, 2021.
Watch the new trailer.
Last month, viewers saw footage of Stewart as Diana for the first time in the movie's teaser trailer (above). Now, a full trailer was released, beginning with Stewart driving to Sandringham in a convertible. We also get our first look at the rest of the royals, even little Prince William and Prince Harry.
Watch the full trailer below.
See an early glimpse here.
Neon, the film's production company, released a new poster for the movie. In the image, Stewart, dressed as Diana in an embroidered white gown, appears to crumple up and cry, shielding her face from the camera.
Some Twitter users think that the dress in the poster is a reimagining of a gold and white gown Diana wore to the German Embassy in London in 1986. Though the recreation is not exact, there are certainly striking similarities.
After wrapping filming, Stewart "can't stop thinking about" Diana.
The movie has finished production, but Princess Diana is still quite present in Stewart's thoughts. Though the actress noted that she was not very familiar with Diana prior to filming, she is now keenly aware of the late royal.
"I can’t stop thinking about her," Stewart said. "I often wonder what she’d think about what’s going on in the world right now."
In preparation for her role, Stewart spent time trying to get inside the late Princess's head, watching, reading, and listening to interviews and old footage.
"To be honest, I’ve now consumed pretty much all there is to consume in terms of videos and interviews. I’ve watched everything that you could hear or see," Stewart noted. "I even go to sleep with it on."
In an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Stewart also discussed her personal connection to the princess, and the difficulty in playing such an iconic figure.
"It's hard not to feel protective over her. She was so young ... everyone's perspective is different, and there's no way to get everything right ... what is fact in relation to personal experience," Stewart said.
On a lighter note, Stewart chatted about another important topic with Kimmel: Diana's hair. When Kimmel asked the actress whether she'd be getting the Princess's famous haircut, Stewart conceded that she'd be wearing a wig.
"She has very architectural hair," Stewart explained, "so we're going to build it ... I don't think I can do it solely with my own hair."
Poldark star Jack Farthing is playing Prince Charles.
The British actor will star opposite Stewart as the Prince of Wales. Farthing is best known for his part in the BBC series Poldark, playing villain George Warleggan. He also appeared in the Netflix romantic comedy Love Wedding Repeat.
Farthing and Stewart will appear alongside a slew of other acclaimed actors, including, per Variety, Academy Award nominee Sally Hawkins, BAFTA nominee Timothy Spall, and Sean Harris.
Spencer was made by an all-star team.
Larraín has an impressive pedigree and is no stranger to strong female lead characters. The Chilean-born filmmaker is best known for his work directing Jackie, a 2016 Oscar-nominated biopic about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, starring Natalie Portman as Jackie.
Though Larraín did not follow the royal family closely during his childhood, he is captivated by Diana's story. "I’ve always been intrigued and fascinated by the Royal Family and how things are in that culture, which we don’t have where I come from," Larraín said. "Diana is such a powerful icon, where millions and millions of people, not just women, but many people around the world felt empathy toward her in her life."
British screenwriter Steven Knight wrote the movie's script. Knight is best known as the creator of television show, Peaky Blinders, though he has also written multiple film screenplays like those for The Hundred-Foot Journey and Seventh Son.
The movie follows three days in Princess Diana's life.
Spencer presents a very concentrated look at the Princess's life, centering on three pivotal days in the early 1990s, roughly around 1992.
The story takes place at the royal family's Sandringham Estate, where they usually spend the holidays. Over Christmas Eve, Christmas, and Boxing Day, Diana realizes that her marriage to Prince Charles has unraveled and reevaluates the direction her life has taken.
As Stewart told Jimmy Kimmel, "[Spencer] takes place over three days, and it's this really poetic, internal imagining of what that might have felt like, rather than giving new information."
While the movie will not depict the Princess's tragic death in 1997, it will portray Diana's fraying marriage and her love for her two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. The story will also show her grappling with the tough decision to leave the royal family for good.
"We decided to get into a story about identity, and around how a woman decides somehow, not to be the queen. She’s a woman who, in the journey of the movie, decides and realizes that she wants to be the woman she was before she met Charles," Larraín said.
The film focuses on Diana's own self-discovery and the strength she found in difficult times. "The key is how she discovers during the process of the movie that what she really needs to do is be who she wants to be," Larraín noted. "And by that, it doesn’t mean she needs to be next to anyone, to be part of anything, but herself and her own children."
