She’s the Jerry Lewis of her generation.
Kristen Stewart, mocked here for her blank expressions in the “Twilight” movies, on Friday became the first American woman to win a César, France’s *****alent of an Oscar.
Stewart, 24, snagged the Best Supporting Actress César for her role in “Clouds of Sils Maria,” a character study about an aging actress. French film star Juliette Binoche played the movie’s lead role. Stewart starred as her assistant.
Stewart had no trouble with her lines in the French-Swiss-German production, which was filmed in English. But she trembled nervously when she took the stage in Paris to accept her award.
Stewart asked the presenter, French rapper JoeyStarr, if he would please put the bulky César trophy on the podium, as she was too nervous to hold it herself. JoeyStarr slammed the trophy down with a loud bang.
“OK. Here we go. I can’t even move my hands,” she said in English as she unfolded a piece of paper.
“Je suis désolée, je ne parle pas Fren — uh, français, mais je promets de travailler — something like that,” she said. Translation: “I am sorry I do not speak French, but I promise to work at it.”
Stewart gave the rest of her speech in English. “Juliette, thank you, thank you, thank you,” she said to Binoche. “I’m standing in front of a room where I do not have to explain the power of Juliette.”
Backstage, Stewart said that “the reasons why people make films here in France are very different from the reasons why people make movies in Hollywood and I prefer it here a little bit.” She added that she’s making another French film now.
Sean Penn was also honored at the ceremony, winning an honorary César for lifetime achievement. Penn attended with girlfriend Charlize Theron. He told the newspaper Le Parisien that Theron is “the love of my life.”
Kristen Stewart is America’s first woman to win a French ‘Oscar’ | New York Post