Princess Diana won’t just be returning to our screens via the upcoming season of The Crown, as Kristen Stewart will play the Princess of Wales in the drama Spencer, according to multiple reports.
The film unfolds over three days in the early ’90s, as Princess Di escapes to Norfolk, England, for Christmas and finds herself questioning her marriage to Prince Charles and her place in line to become queen. (The title, Spencer, is taken from Diana’s maiden name.) Based on the timeframe, Prince William and Prince Harry would still be young boys in the pic.
Pablo Larraín will direct from a script by Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things). Larraín previously helmed 2016’s Jackie, for which Natalie Portman earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination.
Larraín calls Spencer a “fairy tale upside down” and told Deadline of casting Stewart to play the people’s princess, “To do this well, you need something very important in film, which is mystery. Kristen can be many things, and she can be very mysterious and very fragile and ultimately very strong as well… I think she’s going to do something stunning and intriguing at the same time.”
Though to a different extent, Stewart can surely relate to being thrust into the spotlight, having previously opened up about how she was publicly perceived amid Twilight mania. “Because I didn’t leap willingly into being at the center of a certain amount of attention, that it seemed like I was an a**hole,” she said.
Spencer is set to begin production in 2021.
