Kristen Stewart looks unrecognisable as Princess Diana in first teaser for the biopic Spencer

Publish Date
Friday, 29 January 2021, 9:39AM

While there have been many memoirs made over the years about Princess Diana, another film is coming our way ... but this time with a surprise casting.

Kristen Stewart - who is best known for her role as Bella Swann in the Twilight movies - is set to play the "People's Princess" in a new film titled Spencer.

And now we've had our first look at the 30-year-old in character — and the resemblance is uncanny!

While the announcement of Stewart playing Diana was met with initial fury online, the released image of Stewart as Diana has blown critics away.

Stewart looks every bit the royal in a red ensemble with a black hat and mesh veil. She even mastered Diana's iconic head tilt and gaze.

The biopic is being directed by Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín, who directed Natalie Portman in her Oscar-nominated performance in Jackie.

Larraín defended his decision to cast the American actress in the role, saying: "Kristin is one of the greatest actors around today."

He added: "Kristen can be many things, and she can be very mysterious and very fragile an ultimately very strong as well, which is what we need."

"The combination of those elements made me think of her. The way she responded to the script and how she is approaching the character, it's very beautiful to see. I think she's going to do something stunning and intriguing at the same time."

Spencer will reportedly focus on the breakdown of Diana's marriage to Prince Charles, centring on a three-day period in the early '90s during one of the princess's final Christmas holidays at Sandringham.

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The movie will also highlight the love she had for her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.

"It's about finding herself, about understanding that possibly the most important thing for her is to be well, and to be with herself and by herself," Pablo explained of the highly-anticipated film.

"That's why the movie is called Spencer, which is the family name she had before she met Charles," he continued.

Charles and Diana separated in 1992 and divorced four years later in what was an unprecedented move in modern times for an heir to the British throne. Diana died in a Paris car crash in 1997 at the age of 36.

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