Today, actress Kristen Stewart of “Twilight” fame finally turns 21. The child star turne dserious actress has played in twenty-two released films spanning the past eleven years, and is confirmed for another six projects set to release between now and 2014.
Her first credited role came in 2001 when she played Sam Jennings in “The Safety of Objects”. In 2002, she co-starred with Jodie Foster as Sarah Altman in “Panic Room”, a role which won her status as a moreserious child actor.
Though the next several years saw her mostly in minor roles, she often chose young characters dealing with mature issues. Films that saw her in more prominent roles, such as “Speak”, “The Cake Eaters”, and “Welcome to the Rileys” dealt more directly with loss of innocence themes.
Despite her current star power, which gives her access to big-budget mainstream roles, Stewart has shown a preference for complex characters in smaller films. Characteristic of some of her more recent roles is her choice to play characters based on real people, such as JoanJett (“The Runaways”), Tracey Tatro (“Into the Wild”), and Luanne Henderson (Marylou in “On The Road”).