Summary
Kristen Stewart is set to mark a major first in her 24-year acting career, starring in her first television leading role as NASA astronaut Sally Ride inThe Challenger. The Oscar-nominatedSpenceractor has two very different movies coming up, with the post-apocalyptic romance dramaLove Meand the road trip comedySacramento, appearing alongside Michael Cera, Maya Erskine, and others. But she’ll also be crossing off a significant milestone after more than two decades in front of the camera.
According toDeadline, Stewart has bookedher first-ever leading television roleas she’ll play trailblazing NASA astronaut Sally Ride in the upcoming limited seriesThe Challenger, which Stewart executive produces. The project, which is based onThe New Guysbook by author Meredith E. Bagby, counts Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners and actor Kyra Sedgwick’s Big Swing Productions as producers. The story focuses onRide, the first American woman to fly in space.Though a streaming service is not yet attached, Amazon is said to be close to securing a deal.
What To Know About Kristen Stewart’s First Major TV Role
She’ll Play A Well-Known American Figure.
Ride is a notable figure in American history, being frequently mentioned in pop culture.
Looking at the book on whichThe Challengeris based, the limited series is partially a story of NASA’s efforts to diversify its ranks. Ride was thefirst woman and the first member of the LGBTQ+ community to fly into space.The program also included the first Black and Asian American astronauts as well as a married couple. The team passed grueling tests to be part of the team, with the book looking at how ego, ambition, and romance built up to a cultural clash.
The series, written and run byNarcos: New MexicoandThe Staircasewriter Maggie Cohn, could also potentially dramatize Cohn’s personal life. Upon her death in July 2021, a brief mention in Ride’s obituary referred to Tam O’Shaughnessy as Ride’s partner of 27 years. This was not publicly known during Ride’s life.
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Ride is a notable figure in American history, being frequently mentioned in pop culture. She’s namedropped in songs by Billy Joel and Janelle Monáe and featured as acharacter inFor All Mankind,portrayed by actor Ellen Wroe. However,The Challengermarks the first time Ride will be at the center of a biopic.
Kristen Stewart’s Only Other TV Show Role Is Very Meta
The only other character Stewart appeared as on the small screen came in 2022, as she hada small cameo part inIrma Vep. The eight-part limited HBO series was created by Olivier Assayas, the French director who collaborated with Stewart on two of her most acclaimed films —Personal ShopperandClouds of Sils Maria. Stewart’s character, named Lianna, has a very narrow purpose in the story. Her scene is there, mostly, to make the main character (played by Alicia Vikander) feel regretful and insecure about pursuing the man that Lianna is with.
However, in her one-scene cameo in theIrma Vepfinale, some parallels are drawn to Stewart’s own career. Lianna is a pop star, adored by tweens and teens, but she wants more for herself and desires to try different projects. Though she loves her fans, Lianna doesn’t want to be thought of as just one kind of artist. As she speaks, telling this to her boyfriend Eamonn (played by Tom Sturridge), it’s hard not to draw the connection to where Stewart was when she broke out as Bella Swan in theTwilightmoviesand how she spent the following years taking on smaller projects that were worlds away from a Hollywood blockbuster.
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The HBO Original, in general, is a very meta dramedy. There’s a running joke about a Silver Surfer movie, which the main character doesn’t really want to star in. More seriously, it functioned as an avenue for Assayas to revisit the 1996 filmIrma Vepand expand on it in deeply personal ways. Stewart’s leading TV role inThe Challengersounds more like a conventional history of a famous person. But given the talent involved, it could be one to watch.
