Kristen Stewart Talked Preparing to Play Princess Diana

published 8 October 2020

Kristen Stewart will play Princess Diana in upcoming drama Spencer.
She spoke to InStyle about preparing for the role—and mastering that "intimidating" accent.
"I don't want to just play Diana—I want to know her implicitly," Stewart said, adding, "I haven't been this excited about playing a part, by the way, in so long."

Kristen Stewart's already preparing for her upcoming role as Princess Diana in the Pablo Larraín drama Spencer, which is expected to begin shooting in January. She spoke to InStyle about her preparation for the role—including nailing that extremely distinct, extremely posh royal accent. "The accent is intimidating as all hell because people know that voice, and it's so, so distinct and particular. I'm working on it now and already have my dialect coach," Stewart said.

"In terms of research, I've gotten through two and a half biographies, and I'm finishing all the material before I actually go make the movie," the actor continued. "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."

"I haven't been this excited about playing a part, by the way, in so long," Stewart added.

washington, united states files this picture taken 17 june 1997 shows diana, princess of wales, a key volunteer of the british red cross landmine campaign at red cross headquarters in washington dc a french appeals court 14 september 2004 acquitted three photographers of charges they broke privacy laws by photographing diana, princess of wales the night of her fatal accident in paris in 1997 the verdict upheld a november 2003 judgement clearing the photographers fabrice chassery, jacques langevin and christian martinez of the same charges afp photo by jamal a wilson photo credit should read jamal a wilsonafp via getty images

Spencer, scripted by Steven Knight, will reportedly span a three-day period over the holiday season in the early '90s, focusing on Diana's decision to end her marriage to Prince Charles. The movie will be set on the Queen's Sandringham Estate, depicting one of Diana's final Christmas holidays as a member by marriage of the House of Windsor.

Speaking to Deadline, Larraín said. "We all grew up, at least I did in my generation, reading and understanding what a fairy tale is. Usually, the prince comes and finds the princess, invites her to become his wife and eventually she becomes queen. That is the fairy tale. The director continued, "When someone decides not to be the queen, and says, I’d rather go and be myself, it’s a big big decision, a fairy tale upside down. I’ve always been very surprised by that and thought it must have been very hard to do. That is the heart of the movie."