Imogen Poots has praised Kristen Stewart in a new interview, calling her “one of the most authentic people” there is.
In a new interview with The Guardian, Poots explained how she got to know Stewart after she was asked by the star to feature in her directorial debut The Chronology Of Water. The film was adapted from swimmer-turned-writer Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir that explores grief, abuse and addiction.
Opening up about their friendship, Poots explained: “Kristen and I have been secretly worshipping each other from afar. It’s really something to have someone believe in you that much. She’s had a mad life and yet she is one of the most authentic people I’ve ever encountered. As a director, she is relentless in the best way possible. She put her sweat into this film.”
Poots revealed that shooting on the film finished three weeks ago and told The Guardian she was grateful for the experience. “You live your life and make your choices, and agents along the way try to funnel you into wearing an Orc costume so you’ll be in a hit, and you veer off to the left or to the right, and then you find yourself face-to-face with an artist like Kristen…And suddenly everything makes sense,” she told the publication.
Meanwhile, Stewart recently criticised Hollywood’s attempts at promoting gender equality, saying that she thinks “it feels phoney”.
Speaking to Porter magazine, she gave her views on the recent efforts to get a higher ratio of female-directed films into production.
“[There’s a] thinking that we can check these little boxes, and then do away with the patriarchy, and how we’re all made of it,” she said. “It’s easy for them to be like, ‘Look what we’re doing. We’re making Maggie Gyllenhaal’s movie! We’re making Margot Robbie’s movie!’ And you’re like, OK, cool. You’ve chosen four.”
Gyllenhall directed her first film in 2021, The Lost Daughter, while Robbie has become a high-profile producer, with credits including Barbie, Promising Young Woman and I, Tonya.
“I’m in awe of those women, I love those women [but] it feels phoney,” Stewart continued. “If we’re congratulating each other for broadening perspective, when we haven’t really done enough, then we stop broadening.”
A 2023 study by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative revealed that only 12.1 per cent of major release films in 2023 were directed by women.
Stewart’s romantic thriller Love Lies Bleeding, from Saint Maud director Rose Glass meanwhile, received much critical acclaim upon its release earlier this year.
In a four-star review, NME wrote: “Rose Glass, who co-wrote the film with Weronika Tofilska, has delivered a brilliant noir packed with those great pulp ingredients: sex, drugs and violence.”