Actress and director Kristen Stewart announced plans to relocate from the United States, citing concerns about President Donald Trump’s proposed film industry policies and claiming she cannot work freely in America.
The former “Twilight” star revealed her intentions during a recent interview with The Times, stating she is developing her directorial career with a focus on European film production.
Stewart indicated she is “probably not” going to continue living in the United States much longer, splitting her time between Los Angeles and New York.
Her directorial debut, “The Chronology of Water,” was filmed in Latvia rather than domestically. According to Stewart, producing the project in America “would have been impossible.”
The actress expressed alarm over Trump’s proposed tariffs on foreign-made films, calling the potential policy “terrifying” for the entertainment sector.
“Reality is breaking completely under Trump,” Stewart stated. “But we should take a page out of his book and create the reality we want to live in.”
Despite her plans to work primarily in Europe, Stewart said she does not want to abandon the American market entirely.
“I’d like to make movies in Europe and then shove them down the throat of the American people,” she explained.
President Trump first floated the tariff concept in September, four months after initially suggesting the idea. The proposal calls for a 100% tariff on films produced outside the United States.
Trump defended the policy on Truth Social, writing: “Our movie making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries, just like stealing ‘candy from a baby.’ California, with its weak and incompetent Governor, has been particularly hard hit!”
The president continued: “Therefore, in order to solve this long time, never-ending problem, I will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any and all movies that are made outside of the United States.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) office issued a sharp response on X, with a statement reading: “The Governor tried to explain this to Trump months ago — when this was initially proposed — that his actions will cause irreparable damage to the U.S. film industry. Today’s move is 100% stupid.”
The tariff proposal has not advanced further since Trump’s initial announcement.
Stewart has pursued her directorial project since 2018, when she first announced it at the Cannes Film Festival. She told Porter Magazine in 2024 that Latvia offered the environment she needed for the production.
“It’s a fledgling film culture there. Look, I’m all about the way we make movies here [in the U.S.], but I needed a sort of radical detachment. I am not a director yet. I need to make a student film. I can’t do that here,” Stewart said at the time.
The actress has a longstanding connection to Trump dating back over a decade.
During her relationship with “Twilight” co-star Robert Pattinson, Stewart became involved in a public scandal after being photographed with her then-married “Snow White and the Huntsman” director Rupert Sanders.
Trump posted multiple tweets about the situation, including: “Robert Pattinson should not take back Kristen Stewart. She cheated on him like a dog & will do it again — just watch. He can do much better!” Days later, Trump added: “Everyone knows I am right that Robert Pattinson should dump Kristen Stewart. In a couple of years, he will thank me. Be smart, Robert.”
In recent comments to The New York Times, Stewart criticized the entertainment industry structure, calling it a “capitalist hell” that marginalized certain voices and created barriers for artists.
“We’re in a pivotal nexus, because I think we’re ready for a full system break. Do you know what I mean? I mean that across the board and also specific to the world that I live in, which is very exclusively the entertainment industry,” Stewart said.
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“We need to start sort of stealing our movies. I’m so appreciative of every union. Trust me, we would not survive without them. But some of the terms and some of the rules and some of the structures we’ve set up have created unbelievable barriers for artists to express themselves.”
She added: “It’s just so difficult to make movies, it just doesn’t need to be. I’m just trying to think of some sort of weird, like Marxist, Communist-like, situation that other people can definitely think, of course this psycho is saying that, but I think it’s possible, especially in these kind of narrow and exclusive environments. I’m not talking about the world at large, but for us, the system has barred people and made it too difficult to be honest.”
