Kristen Stewart to play Princess Di in Steven Knight-scripted film Spencer

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

With the virtual Cannes Film Festival just around the corner, filmmakers are getting ready to present their hottest projects to potential buyers. One item up for grabs hails from director Pablo Larraín, who's recently announced that he'll direct Kristen Stewart in the role of Princess Diana for SPENCER, an upcoming drama from the pen of Steven Knight (SERENITY, DIRTY PRETTY THINGS). According to Deadline, SPENCER takes place during a pivotal weekend in the early '90s, when Diana had reached the conclusion that her union with Prince Charles was no longer working, and that she would have to execute a series of bold moves that would one day pave the way for her to become queen. The story takes place over the course of three days, during her final Christmas holiday in the House of Windsor in their Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England.

In addition to serving as the film's director, Larraín will also produce with Fabula partner Juan de Dios, Jonas Dornbach, Janine Jackowski and Paul Webster.

Before passing away as the result of a traffic collision on August 31, 1997, Princess Diana's every move was well-documented by members of major press organizations, tabloid rags, and royalty-obssessed fans. While fame was certainly to come as a part of her marriage to Prince Charles, the ceaseless coverage of her every move weighed heavily on Diana, and took a toll on her marriage that many had assumed was the stuff of fairy tales. While growing up in Chile, Larraín didn't exactly keep his finger on the pulse of Diana's day-to-day, but her story still resonated due to its fantastical nature.

“We all grew up, at least I did in my generation, reading and understanding what a fairy tale is,” Larraín explained to Deadline. “Usually, the prince comes and finds the princess, invites her to become his wife and eventually she becomes queen. That is the fairy tale. When someone decides not to be the queen, and says, I’d rather go and be myself, it’s a big big decision, a fairy tale upside down. I’ve always been very surprised by that and thought it must have been very hard to do. That is the heart of the movie.

“How and why do you decide to do that? It’s a great universal story that can reach millions and millions of people, and that’s what we want to do. We want to make a movie that goes wide, connects with a worldwide audience that is interested in such a fascinating life.”

In talking about Stewart's casting, Larraín confessed that the actress' tumultuous experience while being the star of the Twilight franchise was not lost on him. If anything, the hardships that came with playing Bella for the YA vampire saga had set her up as someone who could appreciate Diana's position, especially with regard to the struggles that come with fan-obsessed fame.

“Kristin is one of the great actors around today,” Larraín said. “To do this well, you need something very important in film, which is mystery. Kristin can be many things, and she can be very mysterious and very fragile an ultimately very strong as well, which is what we need. The combination of those elements made me think of her. The way she responded to the script and how she is approaching the character, it’s very beautiful to see. I think she’s going to do something stunning and intriguing at the same time. She is this force of nature.

“I’ve seen movies from Kristin that are so diverse it’s incredible, showing different layers and her diversity and strength as an actress,” he said. “We’re very happy to have her, she’s very committed. As a filmmaker, when you have someone who can hold such a weight, dramatic and narrative weight just with her eyes, then you have the strong lead who can deliver what we are looking for.”

While the film is set to explore Diana's scarred relationship, Larraín has no plans to include her sudden and unfortunate passing as a part of the film. Additionally, Knight's script will also focus on Diana's undying love for her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.

“It’s a very energetic and beautiful script by Steven Knight, whose work I have admired for years. It’s incredible and captures what I have always found and that is an enormous amount of beauty in the power of Diana. When she had the stage of the world and what she had to say in her own story and how strong she could be when she needed to transform herself into something different, to find her own path. It’s a romantic story of a woman going through difficult times who finds the light and the solution.

“She died years after where our story is set and so we don’t deal with that,” Larraín said. “It’s only three days of her life and in that very small amount of time, you’re able to get into a wider, bigger perspective of who she was. We all know her fate, what happened to her, and we don’t need to go there. We’ll stay in this more intimate space where she could express where she wants to go and who she wants to be."

I've no doubt that we'll be hearing more about SPENCER as this year's virtual Cannes Film Festival gets underway in the coming days. Be sure to check back with us for updates as the project inevitably comes together.