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Kristen Stewart doesn’t have the best rep in town in terms of A-list actresses. Her scowling demeanor and general disdain for fame makes it hard to like her, though some people think we should give her a break. I’m among those who get irritated by her angst, but I do believe she’s talented, and I am hoping she’ll grow out of the whole ‘too cool’ thing soon. In the meantime, let’s take a moment to look back at how she went from being someone who never wanted to act to one of the most famous faces in the world…

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Kristen was born in Los Angeles. Her father is a TV producer, and her mom, an Aussie, is a script supervisor. She has two siblings — one biological, one adopted. As a child, Kristen thought she wanted to work behind the camera, just like her parents.
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When she was just eight-years-old, however, Kristen was spotted by an agent while performing in a school play. She auditioned for months and months afterward before winning a small role in the film The Thirteenth Year. She had a small, uncredited role in the film The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas.
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In 2001, Kristen won a bigger role in The Safety of Objects. It was the 2002 film Panic Room, however, that really put her on the map. Despite being just 11 years old, she held her own opposite A-lister Jodie Foster.
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Kristen was next cast in Cold Creek Manor, a thriller in which she played daughter to Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone. At that time, Kristen quit school, because her teachers were failing her for missing class. From this point on, she was homeschooled.
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In 2004, Kristen took on her first starring role in Catch That Kid. That same year, she also played Melinda Sordino, a high school girl who stops all verbal contact after being raped, in the Showtime TV film Speak. In 2005, Kristen played the lead role in the film Zathura, and while the film received critical acclaim, Kristen’s performance was largely ignored. She then followed Zathura up with the films Fierce People and The Messengers. (Sidenote: Has anyone else noticed that Kristen has looked exactly the same since she was a kid?)
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Kristen’s next film was In the Land of Women, in which she starred alongside Meg Ryan and Adam Brody. The film, however, was more or less a flop. She then took a part in Sean Penn’s critically acclaimed Into the Wild, though most critics weren’t crazy about her performance.
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What the critics thought of Kristen would ultimately matter very little. She was next cast as Bella Swan in The Twilight Saga, which would quickly become one of the biggest film phenomenons in history. The first film, which was released in 2008, put Kristen on the map in a way that can never be undone — she’s officially one of the biggest stars in the world. In the four years since, she’s done she’s done 4 more Twilight films, the last of which will be released this year. Meanwhile, Kristen’s been dating her Twilight co-star, Robert Pattinson, since they first began filming.
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While in the midst of all of the Twilight hysteria, Kristen’s taken some time out for smaller roles. In 2010, she played Joan Jett in the indie film The Runaways. Her latest film, On the Road, debuted at the Cannes film festival.
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This weekend, however, Kristen can be seen in what I can only assume will be another giant blockbuster — Snow White and the Huntsman. How do you feel about Kristen as “the fairest of them all”? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!