10 Times Kristen Stewart Deserved An Oscar Nomination But Rudely Got Snubbed

Unfortunately, her blood Slurpee-drinking performance in Breaking Dawn is not included.

Hello, world! The wait is over! You can now see the legendary Kristen Stewart play Princess Diana at select theaters, and widely on Nov 5.

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Ugh, I freaking love that hat/veil/jacket combo. 

So run, don't walk to watch KStew wear gorgeous outfits, speak in a British accent, and piss off the royal family in Spencer.

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She does it all so well that critics are saying she might finally nab an Oscar nomination. 

And while the recently engaged Kristen may have said she's only been in five good movies, I beg to differ.

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Wave at the most snubbed woman in Hollywood.

I am willing to say that prior to the nomination she should most definitely get for Spencer, that Kristen Stewart could have already earned noms for 10 of her films.

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Sadly, the Twilight films do not make this cut, but they did teach KStew how to run on camera. 

So let's strut back through time and examine Kristen Stewart's long history of being snubbed at the Oscars. Here are her 10 best performances.

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1. Speak (2004)

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Four years before Kristen Stewart burst onto the national scene as Bella Swan in Twilight, she was already proving herself to be an extremely capable actor. In this film based on an award-winning YA novel, Stewart plays Melinda Sordino, a 14-year-old student struggling to speak in the wake of being raped by a classmate the previous year. Even with limited dialogue, Stewart is a captivating presence on screen, conveying a depth of emotion with little more than facial expressions and gestures. While the film never had a theatrical release, it is well worth watching. Technically, its Showtime premiere would make this performance eligible for an Emmy rather than an Oscar, BUT in a perfect world, it would have hit theaters and Kristen would have swiped that child actor nomination she deserved. 

Watch it on Amazon Prime Video. 

2. Adventureland (2009)

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Adventureland is Stewart's first big role following the release of Twilight. She plays Em, an amusement park games operator who manages to stumble into several different love triangles with Adventureland coworkers (including both Jesse Eisenberg and Ryan Reynolds). In addition to perfecting her cool girl aesthetic here, Stewart also does the film's heavy lifting with a few emotional scenes in the film's back half. It's rare that a comedy garners too many Oscar noms, but the 2009 Oscars saw Penelope Cruz land a double nomination (winning in Actress for Vicky Christina Barcelona and losing in Supporting Actress for the oft-maligned Nine). You cannot honestly begrudge giving Cruz's second nom to Kristen Stewart.

Watch it on HBO Max. 

3. The Runaways (2010)

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In the middle of her five-year tour as Bella Swan, Stewart landed the role of Joan Jett in the biopic about her and her titular rock band. The R-rated drama was a departure for the actress most well known for Twilight, Zathura, and Catch That Kid. While many child actors wander into projects of dubious quality to prove that they are adults who should be taken serious, Stewart's choice was largely well-received. Critics praised her stoic edginess, and the BAFTA's bestowed her with the Rising Star Award, beating out future Oscar favorites Carey Mulligan and Jesse Eisenberg. While the 2010 Best Actress lineup is unimpeachable, a campaign could have easily pushed Dakota Fanning as lead and Stewart into the much weaker Supporting category. Sorry Hailee Steinfeld, but your nomination could have gone to Kristen. 

Watch it on Netflix. 

4. Camp X-Ray (2014)

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Free from the shackles of the Twilight franchise, Stewart comes back to theaters in 2014 with a VENGEANCE. She's in three films, and I'm going to argue that she should have been nominated for any of the trio. First up, this drama set in a post-9/11 Guantanamo Bay, where Stewart's Amy Cole is tasked with guard duty. The film follows her slowly built friendship with a prisoner and how the two navigate the facility's inhumane conditions. Stewart is able to utilize her stoicism well in the role, performing as the conflicted army operative perfectly. The Best Actress race (dominated by her Still Alice costar Julianne Moore) is tough to break into, though, so perhaps an easier place for her to nab the nomination is for one of her other two 2014 supporting roles. 

Watch it on Amazon Prime Video. 

5. Still Alice (2014)

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Speaking of Julianne Moore, Stewart plays her free-spirited actress daughter in this film, which follows a professor who has Alzheimers. While Moore's towering, Oscar-winning performance certainly stole most of the film's thunder, Stewart gives a grounded performance as the daughter forced to move home and take care of her. Their tenuous relationship, complicated by Moore's memory loss, is the most fascinating plotline of the film, and Stewart holds her own in her scenes. AND THIS ISN'T EVEN HER BEST PERFORMANCE THAT YEAR. 

Watch it on Hulu. 

6. The Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)

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Kristen Stewart should have an Oscar on her mantle for this performance in the first of her pair of Olivier Assayas films. Her work as Valentine, the assistant of Juliette Binoche's aging actress Maria, is top shelf. There's romance. There's betrayal. There's acting-while-acting scenes of the pair running dialogue. While Kristen Stewart has a hard time shaking her ticks and persona while on camera (she never "disappears" into a role), she is able to channel every ounce of herself into the role in a way that shouts "this is why I am an in-demand Hollywood star." No one else could play this role the way Stewart does. Comparing this performance to that of Meryl Streep in Into the Woods (which was Oscar nominated) is laughable, and while Patricia Arquette in Boyhood certainly gives her a run for the statue, I'd give it to KStew by a nose. 

Watch it on Amazon Prime Video. 

7. Certain Women (2016)

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Kristen Stewart's role in Certain Women is not a large one, but it is impactful. In the anthology film's triptych of stories, Stewart's about a lawyer leading a night law class is the final act. Stewart playing Beth, the lawyer, is the object of Jamie's (Lily Gladstone) fascination and possible infatuation. It's easy to see why, as Stewart delivers a subtly alluring performance that brings the trio of stories to a close. I too would drive four hours to find this woman, and I would have thrown in an Oscar nomination when I found her. 

Watch it on Amazon Prime Video. 

8. Personal Shopper (2016)

IFC Films

That same year, Stewart appears in her second Assayas film, this time as the personal shopper for a Parisian fashion model haunted by the ghost of her dead brother. Stewart, who spends much of the movie on screen alone, IS THE FILM. And like with Clouds of Sils Maria, Stewart is able to again channel her essence into this character, somehow both terrified and intrigued by the unknown number that keeps texting her and the mysterious spirit who follows her. Apologies to Meryl, but this is another year where a strong Stewart performance was beat out by a weak Streep performance (Florence Foster Jenkins in this case). This should have been a Best Actress nomination for Stewart at the very least, and possibly a win (depending on your La La Land stance).

Watch it on Hulu. 

9. JT LeRoy (2018)

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I DO NOT UNDERSTAND how I had never heard of this film prior to doing research for this article. It's a Bling Ring–style heist film in which Laura Dern's Laura Albert hires Kristen Stewart's Savannah Koop to pose as the human incarnation to her male pen name J.T. LeRoy (which stands for Jeremiah Terminator, if you were wondering). Dern is giving a bonkers wig-wearing, accent-swapping performance and Stewart is dragged along as her awkward, simpering, androgynous proxy. While the film is certainly flawed, the performances is larger-than-life in a good way and the movie (based on a true story) is extremely watchable. 2018 was a weak year in general at the Oscars. Give them both nominations. 

Watch it on Netflix. 

10. The Happiest Season (2020)

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KStew's most recent film foray was in last year's queer holiday dramedy in which she plays Abby, the girlfriend asked to pretend to be the roommate in front of Harper's (Mackenzie Davis) conservative family. Your mileage may vary on if Abby should have ended up with Harper or the alluring, blazer-wearing Riley (Aubrey Plaza), but there is no denying Stewart's chemistry with both. And not only can she handle the dramatic scenes (as we've seen her do time and time again), but she's also a master of deadpan humor, keeping up with Dan Levy and Mary Holland in a way not everyone can. In last year's COVID-influenced Oscar race, there was PLENTY of room to bestow Stewart with her rightful nomination. But alas, the Academy got it wrong again and we wait for Spencer. 

Watch it on Hulu.