Kristen Stewart To Play Susan Sontag In New Unconventional Biopic

The upcoming film, which Screen Dailyreports is tentatively titled Sontag, will be directed by Kirsten Johnson and co-written by both her and Lisa Kron — and blend biopic with documentary footage in an unexpected way.

“We’re using [the Berlin International Film Festival] as a moment to kick off the project and do documentary footage of Kristen as the head of the jury and talking to her about how she’s going to become Sontag,” producer Gabrielle Tana told Screen Daily. “It will be a drama, but with a documentary aspect to it.”

She added that Johnson, who is known for her documentary work, “has a wonderful approach to storytelling, and this is reflective of that.”

Stewart has taken on unusual pseudo-biopics in the past, most recently starring in Spencer, a fictionalized take on three days in Princess Diana’s life based on, but not set in, reality. Prior to that, the actress also played French New Wave actress Jean Seberg in Seberg, literary grifter Savannah Knoop in JT LeRoy, Lizzie Borden’s maid Bridget Sullivan in Lizzie, and musical icon Joan Jett in The Runaways.