In “Clouds of Sils Maria,” Kristen Stewart and Juliette Binoche play Valentine and Maria, respectively. Maria’s a middle-aged actress who has agreed to star in a play that closely mirrors the relationship she has with her young assistant, Valentine. It’s a complex and thought-provoking film, directed by Olivier Assayas, and it finally made its way to American theaters earlier this month after premiering at Cannes last year. For Kristen Stewart, Valentine is perhaps one of the most challenging characters she’s ever played in her career at this point. She recently sat down for a half-hour discussion with Elvis Mitchell on his radio show “The Treatment” to talk in detail about her character, as well as her overall thoughts and feelings about the movie.
Stewart talked about what it was like to act alongside Juliette Binoche, and how it was different from working with Julianne Moore in “Still Alice.” She also remarked on how closely “Clouds of Sils Maria” resembles aspects of her life and how fun it was for her to play a character that’s so mysterious. Apart from the film, Kristen Stewart briefly talks about her budding friendship with legendary musician/poet Patti Smith and how Smith encourages her to write. The actress even expresses interest in the possibility of directing a short film of her own in the near future.
It’s a pretty great conversation overall, and Elvis Mitchell asks several questions about Stewart’s character in the film, so it’s an even more fascinating chat if you’ve already seen “Clouds of Sils Maria.” Assayas’s film is playing in a handful of theaters across the country and hopefully it will continue to expand over the next couple weeks. In the meantime, you can listen to the interview below.