Kristen Stewart Says Actresses Are ‘Treated Like Shit’ — and Being a Director Changed How People Listen

Kristen Stewart is speaking candidly about sexism in Hollywood — and how stepping behind the camera finally made people take her seriously.

While discussing her feature directorial debut, The Chronology of Water, with The Times of London, Kristen Stewart said actresses are routinely dismissed in the film industry, and that the tone toward her shifted dramatically once she was viewed as a director rather than just an actor.

“Actresses get treated like shit, I’ve got to tell you,” Stewart said. “People think anyone could be an actress, but the first time I sat down to talk about my movie as a director, I thought, wow, this is a different experience. They are talking to me like I’m somebody with a brain.”

Stewart said the reverence often reserved for directors — especially male directors — is based on a false idea that they possess some kind of rare, almost mystical skill.

“There’s this idea that directors have otherworldly abilities, which is not true,” she said. “It’s an idea perpetuated by men.”

She added that female actors are often treated worse than their male counterparts, who are given more respect and creative freedom.

“Not to sound like I’m complaining all the time, but it’s worse for female actors than male ones,” Stewart said. “They get treated like puppets, but they are not.”

Stewart singled out Imogen Poots, who stars in The Chronology of Water, praising her commitment to the project.

“Imogen put her whole body and soul into this movie,” she said.

The film marks a major milestone for Stewart, who rose to global fame leading the Twilight franchise before reinventing herself as a respected figure in independent and arthouse cinema. Her post-Twilight work includes Seberg, Underwater, Spencer, and Love Lies Bleeding, performances that steadily reshaped her public image and critical standing.

The Chronology of Water premiered at Cannes in 2025 and opened in theaters on Jan. 9. The film follows Lidia, a woman who confronts childhood trauma through competitive swimming and writing, blending physical endurance with emotional reckoning.

Stewart’s comments echo statements she made recently in a profile with The New York Times, where she criticized how male actors are often celebrated for simply maintaining confidence, while women are judged more harshly.

“Male actors are aggrandized for retaining self,” she said. “There’s a common act that happens before the acting happens on set — if they can protrude out of the vulnerability and feel like a gorilla pounding their chest before they cry on camera, it’s a little less embarrassing.”

That performance of confidence, she argued, helps frame men’s work as exceptional or even magical.

“It makes it seem like a magic trick,” Stewart said, “like it is so impossible to do what you’re doing that nobody else could do it.”

With her first feature now released, Stewart is no longer just commenting from the sidelines. As a director, she’s using her voice — and her position — to challenge long-standing power dynamics in Hollywood, and to insist that actresses deserve the same respect they’ve always earned.