Popcandy Interview: "Stewart spent much of the time doodling an octopus on a legal pad."

After months of anticipation, last week The Runaways finally opened in select cities.

As you know, I saw the flick and loved it. (Bring your girlfriends! Bring a flask!) When the cast came through Austin for South by Southwest, I got a few minutes with Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning to chat and, mainly, ask them your questions.

Before we hop to it, perhaps I should set the scene: This conversation took place in a hotel conference room, where the two stars were brought in by several publicists and bodyguards. Stewart spent much of the time doodling an octopus on a legal pad. After eight minutes, they were escorted out of the room.

Our chat is below. Kristen took her octopus on her way out.

Me: Well, since we're at South by Southwest, one thing a lot of people want me to ask is what music you're into right now.

Stewart: Right. I listen to The Shins and Radiohead and Interpol. And we saw Band of Horses last night, and that was awesome, because they're, like, my favorite band right now. I love Camera Obscura and Jenny Lewis. I'm just pumping 'em out -- I never do this! I'm always like, "Oh, I don't answer that question."

Me: It's a hard one.

Fanning: I really hate that question. It scares me, it makes me nervous. Because I think people judge you a lot on the music that you listen to.

Stewart: It's so defining. Which is why people want to know, because it does say a lot about you.

Fanning: They want to categorize you.

Me: Well, those are good. And you saw Band of Horses, I almost went to that show.

Stewart: And Broken Social Scene. You seriously missed out. The chick from Metric came out and played one song with them. A long, anthem-y-type thing ... it was awesome.

Me: Oh, well. OK, next question! This is from Lauren: Would you ever consider being in a band yourself?

Fanning: I don't think so. I can only sing or perform if I'm playing a character and able to hide behind that character, so I would be too afraid to do it as myself.

Stewart: I love music so much. I play guitar, and I love playing it with my friends. But I hate the idea of something that's mine ... I'm used to making movies and having people take that from me. But to have my thing be somebody else's experience right now ... I could never be in a band. I feel the same way. I could only ever do that playing someone else.

Me: So you're not going to release an album?

Stewart: Oh, no.

Me: Here's one from Lynn: How much did the costuming, makeup, etc. help in the process of channeling these awesome female rockers?

Fanning: I think it helped me a lot, just because Cherie's costumes are so out there and unique to her. Even the way the clothes were made back then, just because a lot of the stuff was vintage -- just that feeling was really cool to have. I loved getting to see a picture of her and then look like that. I've always wanted to play a real person, so it was neat for me.

Me: Julissa asks, if you were to form the ultimate rock band, with musicians from today and of the past, who would you include?

Stewart: Oh, no. I answered the music that I listened to! I can't even begin to try to make a band in my head. (Laughs)

Me: Do you have an all-time favorite guitarist?

Stewart: I don't. I really actually don't. It would take a really long time for me to think of the kind of band I'd wanna make, how they'd complement one another ... it's too loaded.

Me: Well, let's move on to one from Tom: What's the coolest stuff you've gotten from fans?

Stewart: I got a really cool jacket once. And I was freezing, so I really needed a jacket. That was really nice.

Fanning: I always get really cool gifts from Japanese fans. They always send me really cute things you can't find in America. They're usually Hello Kitty, and I love Hello Kitty, so ...

Stewart: You do?

Fanning: Yeah.

Stewart: OK. That's so funny. (Laughs)

Fanning: And you know, like stationery stores that have the walls of pens and things like that? I love that kind of stuff ...

Stewart: You are Japanese.

(A publicist tells me we have a minute left)

Me: Caro wants to know if you watch your own movies.

Stewart: I kind of wish that we'd went to (the Austin Runaways screening).

Fanning: We've seen it five times.

Stewart: But I wish we went to that one because we heard it was really great, it was a real audience. It wasn't movie people. Some actors are like, 'Oh, I don't watch the movie.' But I have to see what happened. I have to see what we did.

Fanning: I look forward to it.

Stewart: Yeah, me too. I have to see everything done. But usually it's hard for me. And it's hard for me to watch this, too -- like, there are parts that make me wanna kill myself. But I love the story so much. And I love the music. So I like to watch it.

Me: You know, most of the questions I got for this interview were from women, which I think is great. What do you think about that, and have you noticed a difference between the Twilight fans and Runaways fans?

Stewart: They're both widely female, which is unique in the business because everyone says -- and it is true -- there's not a whole lot of material for a female-driven audience. I would say they're kind of similar ... It's empowering to read these stories. I feel like both of them are very bold girl stories.

Me: Thanks, guys.

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