Imagine the line “Where the fuck am I?” reflecting not only Diana Spencer‘s imminent, seclusive journey to Sandringham, but also the highly anticipated notion that actress Kristen Stewart is a bona fide awards player. Director Pablo Larraín (Jackie) escorts Lady Diana and Kristen Stewart off to one final Christmas with the royals in the early nineties. And perhaps a small golden bald guy.
A distant Spencer relative, one Anne Boleyn, is also around to provide our heroine with some abstract support. This very writer found himself transfixed by the DVD copy of Tess from 1979 laying not too far away. And the similarities were immediately clear, with the relatable innocence and turmoil of the character of Tess as embodied by Natassja Kinski. “A fable from a true tragedy” it reads as Spencer opens. One can deduce from that what they will as to whether Kristen Stewart’s Diana is a pure woman faithfully presented.
The tiny Oscars bell was ringing the moment it was announced that the former Twilight star would be filling the shoes of one of England’s most loved women. Kristen Stewart was not only an awards contender for Best Actress, she was very much the one to surpass as the new season of gold-giving hovered from the horizon. That is, until she was not.
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When the Screen Actors Guild announced their Lead Actress lineup, the omission of Stewart was such a surprise that, honestly, we hardly noticed at all for a second. We couldn’t blame screeners like we did when Regina King was also a no-show for If Beale Street Could Talk. Especially as Neon were at their savvy best again this year – remember how they aided the I, Tonya publicity and Margot Robbie securing her Oscar nomination as Tonya Harding?
Though, the Oscars are certainly not the Windsors. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences do relish honouring real people – whether they win or not. Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman), Judy Garland (Renée Zellweger), June Carter (Reese Witherspoon) and Édith Piaf (Marion Cotillard) were all respected historical figures that would win Oscars for Best Actress. They were definitely not repelled by serial killer Aileen Wuornos (Charlize Theron) either. Or even the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep).
The monarchy were also very well represented. Many would argue that the magnificent Judi Dench should have won Best Actress for her Queen Victoria in Mrs. Brown. See also, the astonishing Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth I in Elizabeth. It would be Helen Mirren’s take on Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen which merited the gold statuette. However Larrain’s filmmaking style and Stewart’s portrayal are received, there appears to be a shadowy, detached enthusiasm for Diana, Princess of Wales, here too.
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And this very year, the popularity of such flamboyant American figures, Tammy Faye Bakker and Lucille Ball, enhance the Oscar chances of Jessica Chastain and Nicole Kidman, respectively. Not that those actresses require such ammo. Kidman has won previously, but that was two decades ago. And she’s well respected. And Chastain has been knocking it out of the park since 2011 – and still no win. Also muchly respected. That lethargic career narrative is very much apparent.
That very Americanness of the characters is a magnetic influence on AMPAS voters for sure – but not a dealbreaker. You think the Americans weren’t a fan of Diana like the Brits? In terms of awards, that is a stretch. BAFTA will be all over the film Spencer, surely? Not so much. In fact, the film’s general awards success (apart from Kristen Stewart) has been careering off the road pretty much before it managed to build any kind of gusto.
Are we able to simply say that we can’t rely too heavily on the British Film Academy to foresee the Oscar victor? Perhaps as much as we once dared to. Last year, the BAFTA winner for Best Actress went on to win the Academy Award. Even then, in hindsight, you could argue that Frances McDormand’s win for Nomadland was hardly the favourite.
That is to say, then, that BAFTA and Oscar do align for the most part. Which you can say about many of the awards bodies. Use them to fit your argument or rally a more unorthodox crystal ball. In the early noughties, the BAFTA award for Best Actress threw several curveballs. In 2002, it was Meryl Streep – not Nicole Kidman – winning for The Hours. A year later, Scarlett Johansson defeats herself in Girl With a Pearl Earring and wins for Lost in Translation. Then Imelda Staunton is awarded the golden face for Vera Drake – how very British of them. But since then, only Carey Mulligan (An Education) and Emmanuelle Riva (Amour) have won the BAFTA and failed to win the Oscar. Yes, the same Carey Mulligan that was ominously absent from the British Best Actress line-up last year for Promising Young Woman.
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And I’m sure you’ve all studied this year’s nominated ladies from the British Film Academy. Do those overlaps of nominees help us determine the Oscar front-runners? Well, what overlaps? Even with six actresses named, astonishingly none of the BAFTA women match those listed with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Mercifully, with nominations for actresses like Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World), Tessa Thompson (Passing) and Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers), there was further evidence that the consensus voting minds really have broadened over the years. Members are still not diverse enough, but more so than before. It’s still a fine line, only that line stretches and bends beyond what we might have labeled copycat voting or merely box-ticking exercises.
Kristen Stewart (Spencer) missing both BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild, but then showing up at the Academy Awards nominations, is a true case in point. It’s easy to cry out that the British simply didn’t like the movie. Or that this was some form of BAFTA princess-washing. Or even that BAFTA’s very own president – you know, Prince William – objected to the portrayal of his mother enough to make an impression. What, you think he wrote letters to voters with his authoritative opinion like Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip did advising that Prince Charles and Lady Diana ought to divorce?
Or perhaps, the competition for places with the actresses was so vast that – God forbid – they would have several bona fide contenders. The Oscars envelopes have not been opened yet. Heck, voting hasn’t even begun. Why do we need to make up our broadened minds right now?
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One Oscar nominee for Best Actress, Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye), is now apparently top of the tree thanks to her victory at the recent SAG awards. But for how long? Given the voting body, the Screen Actors Guild has proven to be the most accurate big show of awards to help us feel more secure about our guesswork.
Have you spoken to Viola Davis about that formula recently? Her SAG win for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom last year put the awards predictions in a similar muddle. When we realized she was stronger than we thought. Yet proved to not be as strong as we then subsequently thought. You follow? Davis was much more of a solidified frontrunner when she won at SAG for The Help in 2011 – but the Oscar went to Meryl Streep.
When the Screen Actors Guild began in 1994, it was Jodie Foster (Nell) who was the very first Actress winner. The correlation between SAG and Oscar winners, though, was quick off the mark. And when they didn’t match, it was very much (at least) a two-horse race. How close do we really think that SAG winners Annette Bening (American Beauty), Renée Zellweger (Chicago), Julie Christie (Away from Her) and Glenn Close (The Wife) were to winning that Oscar?
The only actress to not be nominated (thus not win) at the Screen Actors Guild awards was Kate Winslet (The Reader). It was that Meryl Streep woman that won instead for Doubt. Winslet, of course, won the Supporting Actress prize at SAG, just as the category shift voting would eventually land her the Best Actress prize at the Academy Awards. But this hardly helps us here.
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Whether a stranger to the awards season ritual or not, Kristen Stewart in Spencer demonstrates an incredible depth of dedication and investment into that role of Diana. This whole will-she, should-she, how-can-she debate is much, much more than following in the footsteps of a genuine national treasure. Or indeed after other portrayals of the princess such as Genevieve O’Reilly in Diana: Last Days of a Princess, Naomi Watts in the uninspiring Diana, and unquestionably more comparable (and enchanting) Emma Corrin in TV’s The Crown.
Topsy-turvy predictors of the great big Oscar race had Spencer dead long before Kristen was absent from the SAG nominations, and then BAFTA. But then the proclaimed favourite was dropped out of the entire five of many a Best Actress prediction list. I’d argue only the brave were saying she’d still get in with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – me included. But there were not many of us.
It was far easier to just accept that perhaps someone like Kristen Stewart didn’t fit the mold of such Hollywood gravitas. But even as I write them, I can implore you not to assume those are my words. Like Diana’s highly glossy image, Kristen also has her harsh critics. A far cry from her adoring entourage fanbase at the other side of the room.
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Kristen’s mannerisms, the ones she is famous for, impersonated, mocked, lauded. Those hesitant sighs, the porcelain jawline, that curved mouth, are instantly recognisable in her immersion into Diana. But they also transcend Kristen and form a Diana that many of us knew and loved. That almost apologetic glance. An aura of temperament and openness. Kristen’s Diana is inviting, honest, wears her nerves on her sleeve – no doubt enhanced by her presence of that rather royal family. Stewart herself has been known to get the jitters under spotlight.
In Spencer, Claire Mathon’s exquisite camera glides by Diana’s side or stalks her every move. Hardly inches from the actress as Diana embarks on those troubled festive days that would ultimately provide the straw to break the camel’s back. Through rebelling against the designated attire, fending off the pressure of keeping up appearances, attempting to break free from a pre-conceived cocoon. A life beyond Prince Charles or Edward Cullen.
Kristen Stewart is perhaps no stranger to such designs, given her remit within the entertainment field. “I knew I had to keep myself tidy for what lay ahead.” the gracious real-life Diana once said as she embarked on that royal chapter of her young life. Indeed, the princess and the actress doth balance their lives for public and private eyes.
If Kristen urges to munch down those pearls, or indeed wishes to be left alone to masturbate, the actress might have to volunteer for the British Red Cross, play an active part at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, and even get her hands dirty with the plight of landmines. Play the Oscar game and show up, I believe they refer to it as. I really wonder if Kristen’s support in any way mirrors that of Diana in the movie world. The people’s actress? For all we know, Kristen Stewart’s Academy Awards hopes may well be tethered before voting even begins on March 17th. Or else she’s a sure bet.
What are your views on Kristen Stewart and this crazy race to the Oscars? Comment below.
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