HitFix sat down with “On the Road” star Kristen Stewart to discuss the film and the legendary Jack Kerouac book that inspired it.
In the video (above), the “Twilight” star explains that “On The Road” was one of her favorite books growing up, and provided “the most fun I’d ever had at school.”
The book and the film depict the restlessness of the Beat Generation, as chronicled by flagship member Kerouac in the late ’40s and early ’50s.
Stewart discusses the research she did for the film and reveals more details about her character Marylou and her real-life counterpart, LuAnne Henderson.
In the book, the characters of Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty are based on Kerouac himself and his trouble-making pal Neal Cassady. The latter’s then-wife Henderson likewise provided the blueprint for Mary Lou.
In the new film, Garrett Hedlund (“Tron Legacy”) plays Dean, while Sam Riley (“Control”) plays Sal. Stewart and the rest of the cast listened to hours of taped interviews that Henderson made later in life, recounting the crazy misadventures that the members of the Beat Generation got into.
Stewart also addresses the continuing controversy surrounding the role that women play in the book, which for decades has been accused of misogyny.
Directed by Walter Sales (“Central Station,” “The Motorcycle Diaries”), “On the Road’ also stars Viggo Mortensen, Alice Braga, Amy Adams and Kirsten Dunst.
“On the Road” opens December 21.