Kristen Stewart Scores First Oscar Nomination For 'Spencer'

Actress Kristen Stewarthas come a long way since her “Twilight” days!

Although the young adult supernatural film franchise made Stewart a household name, it failed to score her any major award nominations. That all changed on Tuesday morning when Stewart landed a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her role as Princess Diana in Pablo Larrain’s “Spencer.”

Although “Spencer” failed to be the juggernaut that many expected, Stewart also received nominations from the Critics Choice Awards for Best Actress and a Golden Globe Best Actress in a Drama nomination. Stewart failed to secure any nominations from the BAFTAs or the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards. “Spencer” also failed to score any wins at the London Critic’s Circle Awards last Sunday.

Stewart will be competing with several other notable actresses for the Best Actress win, including Jessica Chastain for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” Olivia Colman for “The Lost Daughter,” Penelope Cruz for “Parallel Mothers,” and Nicole Kidman for “Being the Ricardos.”

Many had expected to see Lady Gaga (“House Of Gucci”) or Jennifer Hudson (“Respect”) to be a major contender in the Oscar race. However, they failed to score a nomination. “House of Gucci” was noticeably absent from the major categories, despite packing the star power of actors like Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons. The Ridley Scott drama did score one nod in the Makeup and Hair category.

Fans can check out the full list of Academy Award nominations by clicking here.

The 2021 drama “Spencer” follows Diana’s decision to end her marriage to Prince Charles and leave the British royal family. The film premiered at the 78th Venice International Film Festival and had a theatrical release in November 2021.

The “Underwater” actress recalled how transforming into Princess Diana was one of the hardest things she had ever done in her career as an actress.

“I knew even before I read the script. I was like, ‘You’re not going to say no to this, because who would you be in that case?’” Stewart recalled. “I absolutely would have felt like such a coward. Especially given that I’m such an outsider. I’m not from the U.K., I don’t have any particular investment in the royal family. So I was kind of this really clean slate, and then could absorb her in a way that actually felt very instinctive, you know?”

“I took more pleasure in my physicality making this movie than I have on anything,” she explained at a press conference during the Venice Film Festival. “I felt more free and alive and able to move – and taller, even.”

She added that Diana’s “power on people’s imagination and hearts” was “just something she was born with.”

After spending so much time playing Princess Diana, Spencer feels that she has a real understanding of who she was not just as a character, but as a historical figure.

“There are some people that are endowed with an undeniable penetrating energy,” she explained. “I think the really sad thing about her is that she — as normal and sort of casual and disarming her air is immediately — she also felt so isolated and so lonely. She made everyone else feel accompanied and bolstered by this beautiful sort of light and all she wanted was to just have it back.”

“The idea of somebody being so desperate for connection and somebody who is able to make other people feel so good, feeling so bad on the inside and being so generous with her energy — I just think we haven’t had that many of those people throughout history,” Stewart continued. “She really sticks out as a sparkly house on fire.”

Many fans took to social media to celebrate Kristen Stewart's first Academy Award nomination! Take a look!