It’s been a rough two years for Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. After their split in July 2017, the actress got engaged to musician Jack Savoretti and had a daughter, Vivienne, with him in October 2018. The couple announced their breakup in September 2019, just three months before Vivienne’s second birthday.
It’s been a trying time for the 42-year-old actor, who has faced an uphill battle playing a father figure to the toddler. The duo’s estrangement was compounded by the fact that Stewart is a keen advocate for animal rights, denouncing the use of fur in fashion and regularly giving animals as presents.
But following a recent photo shoot with French photographer Stephanie Pichetto in which she wore a dress made entirely from snake skin, Stewart has seemingly found her calling. In the wake of their split, she has embraced her wild side, ditching the polished blonde hair and makeup routine in favour of a more natural look, and seemingly found happiness with the help of Savoretti.
Here, we look back at the highs and lows of the last two years of Stewart’s life – from her engagement to Savoretti to the birth of her daughter.
The Hectic Times Before Their Breakup
Since splitting from Pattinson in July 2017, Stewart has been busy. In January 2018, she underwent a vocal cordectomy, a procedure that removed her ability to speak for several months. The actress is now fully recovered and is set to resume her professional career, with a big chunk of the last two years focused on bringing her A-list movie star status back. She has a lead role in the upcoming film Dog Days, opposite Will Ferrell and John Cusack. In October 2018, she joined the 2020 San Francisco Giants as a brand ambassador and made her professional baseball debut during their NLDS match against the Chicago Cubs, striking out twice in a strikeout-happy match.
But the busy schedule hasn’t always been easy. In January 2018, Stewart was candid about her struggle with anxiety and depression and opened up about her plans to tackle these conditions head-on. Taking a page out of her hero, Emma Stone’s, book, she wrote about her battle with anxiety in an essay for Elle.
“I don’t want to be defined by my anxiety,” she wrote at the time. “I want to challenge it.”
The following month, she took a break from her busy schedule to attend the 74th Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, where she received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Adapted Film for her role in the Coen brothers’ film The Master.[1]
New Look, New Career
Since her breakup with Pattinson, Stewart has taken a different approach to her personal life, changing the way she cares for her health and well-being. Weighing in at a healthy and appropriate weight, the actress is now a firm believer in the benefits of natural beauty products and skincare routines, eschewing harmful chemicals in favour of expensive potions sold at Sephora.
In October 2019, she made her return to the big screen in the form of the coming-of-age film Dandelion, based on the life of Scottish poet Angela Carter. The movie follows a group of school girls, played by Elle, Storm Reid and Chloe McCarty, who set out to prove that women can be just as courageous as the boys they are learning about in history class.
Dandelion marks a turning point in Stewart’s career, following a string of big-name vehicle roles that propelled her to international fame. The film is directed by Stephen Woolmer and is based on Carter’s own semi-autobiographical novel, The Sweetest Sounds. Woolmer previously collaborated with Stewart on the 2013 film The Runaways based on the 1970s New York City punk rock scene. Since then, the pair have worked together on Dandelion and the upcoming sci-fi thriller, The Outer Banks.
The 42-year-old is also using the platform provided by her newfound celebrity to raise awareness of animal rights issues. In April 2019, Stewart helped raise over £80,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital’s Children’s Charity through a joint fundraising appeal with fashion retailer Karen McMenemy. The money will go towards purchasing essential nappy and baby equipment for the children’s ward. The pair visited the hospital’s neonatal unit to meet the newborns and their parents, before posing for photographs and signing autographs.
Last but not least, Stewart is set to star in the upcoming biopic Jimmy Cliff, based on the Jamaican-British musician’s life. The film will explore Jimmy Cliff’s journey from rags to riches and fame, telling the story of how he went from being a busker to headlining concerts at Wembley Stadium and the Lyceum Theatre in London. Cliff, who died in 2016, will be played by Jamaican actor Akili McDowell, with Michael Caine and Thandie Newton in the leading roles.
The film will be released in April 2021.
A rough two years for Stewart, but the actress is looking to the future with newfound optimism, having found the happiness that eluded her previously with Pattinson. Here, we look back at the highs and lows of the last two years of Stewart’s life – from her engagement to Savoretti to the birth of her daughter.