Kristen Stewart Transformed into Princess Diana for the Movie "Spencer"

From Oprah Magazine

• Kristen Stewart will play Princess Diana in a upcoming movie called Spencer, likely titled after Diana's maiden name.

• First look photos show Stewart's transformation into the English royal.

• Here's what we know about the film, which will detail Diana's decision to separate from Charles.

Princess Diana never goes out of style. With the fourth season of The Crown detailing Charles and Diana's marriage, the People's Princess is on our minds once again. And a slate of upcoming Diana-centric projects, including a musical streaming on Netflix in 2021 and a movie starring Kristen Stewart, will keep her there.

Yes, you read that right: Kristen Stewart of Twilight fame will follow The Crown's Emma Corrin in playing the English royal. Stewart was cast as the lead in Spencer, Pablo Larraín's movie about the weekend that led to the end of Diana and Prince Charles's troubled marriage. The movie likely got its title from Diana's maiden name, Spencer. First look photos, released in January 2021, show Stewart's impressive transformation.

Judging by the description, Spencer will make for an excellent double feature with Larraín's acclaimed biopic Jackie, an intimate depiction of First Lady Jackie Kennedy in the days following her husband's death. Larraín's Neruda is a biopic of —you guessed it—the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. With Spencer, Jackie, and Neruda, Larraín is making a career out of reacquainting audiences with the people we consider icons.

Here's what we know about the project, including when to expect it and how Stewart is preparing.

Spencer is set over a pivotal weekend in the early '90s.

According to Deadline, the upcoming biopic takes place over a three-day period in which Diana decides to separate from her husband, Prince Charles. "We decided to get into a story about identity, and around how a woman decides somehow, not to be the queen. She’s a woman who, in the journey of the movie, decides and realizes that she wants to be the woman she was before she met Charles," Larraín told Deadline.

Well, who was Diana before her marriage? In Andrew Morton's biography, Diana: Her True Story—in Her Own Words, Diana described her pre-Charles days living in an apartment with friends as "the happiest time of her life." Essentially, Diana always wanted to be that blissful again.

Over the course of Her True Story, Diana defines herself as separate from the institution she married into. "The key is how she discovers during the process of the movie that what she really needs to do is be who she wants to be," Larraín told Deadline. "And by that, it doesn’t mean she needs to be next to anyone, to be part of anything, but herself and her own children."

The movie will draw from real-life biographical details. Charles, then 32, and Diana, 20, married in an elaborate ceremony in 1981. Following numerous marital difficulties—including infidelity perpetuated by both Charles and Diana—the couple separated in 1992, and divorced in 1996. A year after settling the divorce, Diana died in a tragic car accident. She was 36.

Spencer might even count as a (dark) Christmas movie.

If your favorite holiday movies are the tear-jerking ones, then Spencer might be for you. Spencer is set over the holidays at Sandringham, so expect festive decor at odds with the characters' moods. There may even be a Christmas card scene, like season 4 of The Crown's final moment.

The script will try to capture who Diana "really was."

Speaking to Variety, screenwriter Steven Knight revealed that his process for Spencer's script included speaking to people who were close to Diana, with the goal of creating an accurate portrayal. I just found the whole thing fascinating. To talk to people who knew her and to try and get a view of this person—who this person really was—who was an ordinary person in extraordinary situations, is the way I think of her," Knight said.

Kristen Stewart is already working on her English accent.

At the age of 18, Stewart rose to astronomical fame after being cast as Bella Swan in the adaptation of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight novels. Since her stint as a teen idol, the California-born actress has been attached to a series of daring indie projects, like Lizzie (about the notorious axe murderer Lizzie Borden) and Personal Shopper. She also starred in the Charlie's Angels reboot, and the holiday rom-com The Happiest Season.

Speaking to Deadline, director Larrain explained why Stewart is a perfect—if surprising—pick for the role of Diana. "To do this well, you need something very important in film, which is mystery," Larraín told Deadline. "Kristen can be many things, and she can be very mysterious and very fragile and ultimately very strong as well, which is what we need."

According to an interview with InStyle, Stewart is committed to becoming Diana. As of October 2020, Stewart had read her way through two biographies, and is now tackling the accent. "The accent is intimidating as all hell because people know that voice, and it's so, so distinct and particular. I'm working on it now and already have my dialect coach," she said.

She also admitted she feels the pressure to get it right. "It's one of the saddest stories to exist ever, and I don't want to just play Diana—I want to know her implicitly," Stewart told InStyle. "I haven't been this excited about playing a part, by the way, in so long."

Aside from Stewart, the rest of Spencer's cast hasn't been announced yet.

But that doesn't mean we can't dream up the cast. Stewart's casting is a signal that the rest of the movie may feature unexpected picks. Who might play Charles, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, and young Prince William and Prince Harry?

Production will begin in 2021, so there's no way of knowing when Spencer will come out.

Screenwriter Steven Knight revealed in an interview with Variety that the movie was set to begin filming in early 2021. "We’ve got a cast all in place and we’re ready to go," he says.

There's a chance Spencer's release will coincide with season 5 of The Crown. Netflix hasn't released an official premiere date for future seasons of The Crown. If we had to guess, the fifth season—which will feature a new cast, including Elizabeth Debicki as Diana—will premiere in November of 2021 or 2022.

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