Kristen Stewart and Maggie Gyllenhaal direct shorts for Netflix compilation about life in lockdown

He caused a stir earlier this month when he announced he had cast Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana in his film Spencer.

But before Chilean director Pablo Larrain calls action on the biopic, he is collaborating with the Twilight star on an anthology of short films for Netflix.

Stewart is one of 17 artists and filmmakers participating in the project that will be a compilation of five to seven minute films about life in quarantine during the coronavirus pandemic.

It won’t be the first time that Stewart has gone behind the camera for a change; she debuted her first directorial effort Come Swim in 2017.

Also contributing to the compilation titled Homemade is actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, best known for The Dark Night, The Honourable Woman and The Deuce.

There are also shorts from Britain, Italy, Japan, Lebanon and France. 

‘We’re going through different situations, but there are many things we have in common,’ Larrain said of the pandemic in an interview with Variety. ‘That was the heart of this and the challenge we faced.’

He explained that an underlying theme was is ‘adversity, and how we are all from different countries, cultures and circumstances, but for a very unique moment of humanity, we’re all sharing very similar circumstances in different contexts.’  

Homemade will debut on Netflix on June 30. 

Larrain made a name for himself as the director of the 2016 biopic Jackie which earned Natalie Portman a best actress Oscar nomination.

In Spencer, he plans to tell a dramatized account of a ‘critical’ weekend in the early 1990s, when Princess Diana decided that her marriage to Prince Charles wasn’t working. 

In choosing Stewart to star, the Chilean filmmaker said he was impressed by her range.

‘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,’ Larrain told Deadline. ‘The combination of those elements made me think of her.’

He added: ‘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.’