With The Chronology of Water, Kristen Stewart will make her directorial debut in the feature film industry. Stewart first announced her intention to adapt Lidia Yuknavitch’s 2011 memoir The Chronology of Water in 2018. Stewart had a hard time getting funding for her pet project in the years that followed because she wanted to work with a small crew of five people and a flexible shooting schedule on the Oregon coast, where Yuknavitch grew up. Stewart, however, remained optimistic that things would eventually come together for the project.
Now, Deadline has broken the news that Stewart’s long-awaited directorial debut, The Chronology of Water, is occurring, and Imogen Poots will feature in it. Based on Yuknavitch’s autobiography, Stewart and Andy Mingo will write the screenplay. Ridley Scott’s Scott Free company will produce it. Stewart explains in a statement why she thinks the memoir needed to be adapted to the movie and how happy she is that Poots was cast in the role. What Stewart has to say is detailed below.
Lidia’s memoir honors corporeal experience, radically. To make that experience physical feels vital to me and what this impulse means … is that it absolutely must be a film. This project has been cooking for five years with the help of Scott Free, whom I could not be more privileged to have as partners and friends. Imogen Poots will carry this movie and the staggering weight of Lidia’s life. She can hold it. I am beyond lucky to have her.
Stewart shot to fame after appearing in the first Twilight picture. However, she had already established herself as a promising young actress with appearances in films like Panic Room, Speak, Catch That Kid, and Zathura. It was extremely challenging for Stewart to shake off the Bella Swan character as the critically panned (but fan-adored) drama came to a conclusion. So, Stewart started working on smaller films like Clouds of Sils Maria and Personal Shopper to hone her skills in a more low-key setting.
Stewart transitioned to directing in 2017 with the Scott Free-produced short film Come Swim. For her first feature-length directorial effort, The Chronology of Water, Stewart is returning to the Ridley Scott-backed production company she previously worked with on two previous films. Poots, a rising talent who has been in movies like Outer Range, I Know This Much Is True, and Florian Zeller’s The Father is the perfect choice to play the film’s female protagonist, which Stewart had previously stated was her goal. Stewart is an actor in her own right, so maybe she can coax an exciting performance out of Poots, and the results of their collaboration should be fascinating to watch.
Recently, Stewart appeared in Pablo Larran’s Spencer, where she gave “probably the finest performance of her career.” The Twilight actress received some of the highest praise for her portrayal of Princess Diana and a series of award nominations, including a surprisingly high spot in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role category, where she knocked out Lady Gaga. Stewart’s incredible turn in Spencer may have been the deciding factor in persuading a production company to back her first feature film directing effort, The Chronology of Water after she had spent years trying to secure money for the project without success.
