Glossed over this morning: Kristen Stewart's meaty role as a stripper in Welcome to The Rileys and what it could mean for the actress' career in the long haul. Rileys is one of two flicks Stewart has at the Sundance Film Festival. It premiered yesterday and in tandem with The Runaways, the flick may do the unlikely for Stewart: Put her on the fast-track to Hollywood's hottest leading lady. Mostly because both stand to give her significant indie clout. But, Kristen Stewart as the next Queen of Indies? It may be a difficult coup, especially with Parker Posey, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Chloë Sevigny holding fast to the title. Then again we are in a world where Sandra Bullock remains thisclose to Oscar gold. Moreover, Hollywood loves to shun experienced actresses in favor of transient flavors of the week and none are currently spicier than Kristen Stewart. Despite the well-executed circus of publicity around her, Stewart hasn’t really secured many projects apart from the Twilight franchise.
Nor has she wowed over film snobs yet. But this is where her two-pronged Sundance sweep might turn her fortunes around. Both find her essaying unlikely roles that film snobs adore: A down-on-her-luck stripper with a heart of gold and an iconic rock star. In Welcome to The Rileys, which screened yesterday afternoon, Stewart plays Mallory, a girl who she contends isn’t a stripper so much as she’s a runaway teen struggling to survive on her own. She tells MTV, “I didn’t want a bunch of people who had run away from their homes, or wherever they ran away from, look at this and go, ‘This girl doesn’t know what she’s talking about.’ That was scary.” The Sopranos’ James Gandolfini plays her burly protector. This makes us wonder if the Stewart-Gandolfini dynamic may, in some remote way at least, have echoes of Marisa Tomei and Mickey Rourke’s rapport in The Wrestler. That film was a critical darling during its theatrical release in 2008.
She additionally plays Joan Jett in The Runaways--the movie everyone knows a whole lot better as that one where she has a lesbian tryst with Dakota Fanning. Early reports of Stewart’s roles in both features have been nothing short of glowing.
Should her Sundance blitz go according to plan and K-Stew avoids any LiLo-esque meltdowns, her star could easily overtake Twilight king Robert Pattinson’s. By combining her celebrity, her standing as an unlikely Sundance princess, and even this BAFTA Rising Star nod, Stewart could pretty feasibly become the next queen of indie cinema. But one last thing she may want to do to ensure her ascent to A-list notoriety? Get rid of that dang tick.
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