Kristen Stewart says she's finally being spoken to like 'somebody with a brain' after ditching acting career for directing

Kristen Stewart revealed why she's decided to work behind the camera rather than in front of it.

The Twilight star, 35, recently made her directorial debut with The Chronology of Water, and shared that her decision was partly driven by the treatment of actresses in Hollywood.

'Actresses get treated like s***, I've got to tell you,' she explained to The Sunday Times in an interview on Sunday.

'People think anyone could be an actress, but the first time I sat down to talk about my movie as a director, I thought, "Wow, this is a different experience, they are talking to me like I'm somebody with a brain,"' Stewart claimed. 

Stewart — who also spoke about her desire to make movies abroad and 'shove them down the throat of the American people' —  added, 'There's this idea that directors have otherworldly abilities, which is not true. It's an idea perpetuated by men.'

'Not to sound like I'm complaining all the time, but it's worse for female actors than male ones — they get treated like puppets, but they are not.'

In another part of the interview she recalled an encounter she had with a 'male actor I really love' that showed the differences between male and female actors.

'And I said there are no female Method actors because Method acting is an acrobatic performance to make acting seem like a feat that it is not,' she explained.

'I think acting is just playing pretend; you don't have to do 50 press-ups before a take. As soon as I made the distinction between male and female actors, he became defensive and said he had never met an actress that wasn't crazy.'

Stewart said that just a couple years ago a comment like that 'would have made me turn red in the face, my ears would have started steaming and I would have seemed exactly like what he wanted me to seem like — an angry woman.'

'Instead, I just continued and got to the end of my thought. Getting older is great because you can achieve a calm,' she added.

Stewart rose to fame at just 12 years old when she starred alongside Jodie Foster in David Fincher's 2002 thriller Panic Room. 

She went on to reach international fame at 18 by playing Bella Swan in the blockbuster Twilight saga alongside Robert Pattinson. 

In 2022 she earned an Oscar nomination for best actress for her portrayal of the late Princess Diana in Spencer. 

Stewart has now turned to directing with The Chronology of Water, based on American writer Lidia Yuknavitch's 2011 memoir.

The movie, which premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival in May, has received lots of praise by critics as it focuses on difficult topics, such as childhood trauma and addiction.

It follows Lidia (played by Imogen Poots), who becomes a competitive swimmer after surviving an abusive childhood.

'If I was a man I wouldn't have made this movie,' Stewart shared. 'We have to deny our physicality every single day and there is so much — like birth — that is so painful and also quite beautiful, but we don't share it because it is uncomfortable and icky.'

'We've been pushed out of the canon in terms of expression. I wanted to speak to a world designed to silence women. We have to push people out of the way to get our experience seen and that pisses people off.'

Rounding out the talented cast for the drama are Jim Belushi, Tom Sturridge, Thora Birch and Sonic Youth rock band's Kim Gordon.

Stewart first presented the film at Cannes Film Festival earlier in May, where the film was met with critical acclaim and a standing ovation.

Variety called it 'a stirring drama of abuse and salvation, told with poetic passion', while Indiewire critic David Ehrlich said 'there isn't a single millisecond of this movie that doesn't bristle with the raw energy of an artist'. 

Elsewhere in her latest interview, Stewart voiced her desire to leave the US to make movies abroad and 'then shove them down the throat of the American people', as she reflected on the changing landscape of Hollywood under Donald Trump.

The actress endured her own public clash with the US President back in 2012, before he realized his political ambitions, when the thrice-married businessman, 79, went on a public rant at her on X during her cheating scandal.

Kristen leveled criticism at Trump and admitted she could not see herself remaining in America.

However, she voiced her desire to still make films for US audiences, adding: 'But I don't want to give up completely. I'd like to make movies in Europe and then shove them down the throat of the American people.'

The Spencer star hit out at Trump, but insisted that it was still possible to create change, saying: 'Reality is breaking completely under Trump. But we should take a page out of his book and create the reality we want to live in.'

Trump infamously had some harsh words for Kristen in 2012, were he made multiple tweets about her love life and then-boyfriend Pattinson, over the span of a month.

His rant came after news broke of Stewart's infidelity with her Snow White And The Huntsman director Rupert Sanders, who was himself married at the time, while she was in a relationship with Twilight co-star Robert.

Trump took to X to fume: 'Robert Pattinson should not take back. She cheated on him like a dog & will do it again - just watch. He can do much better!'

Stewart has since opened up about her sexuality and previously labelled herself as 'so gay' while appearing on SNL. In April last year, the star married wife Dylan Meyer in a low-key ceremony at Mexican restaurant Casita Del Campo after six years of dating.