Stewart was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Her father, John Stewart (not to be confused with The Daily Show's Jon Stewart), is a stage manager and television producer who worked for FOX. Her mother is a scriptwriter who comes from Australia. She attended school until the seventh grade, and continued her education by correspondence. She has an older brother, Cameron. Stewart is an avid surfer and currently lives with her family in Los Angeles. Kristen confirmed to Vanity Fair that she is dating actor Michael Angarano.
Career
Stewart's first role was a short, nonspeaking part in the Disney Channel TV production The Thirteenth Year. She subsequently appeared in the independent film The Safety of Objects where she played the tomboy daughter of a troubled single mother (Patricia Clarkson). Stewart had a role in the major Hollywood film Panic Room, playing the sullen, diabetic daughter of a divorced mother (Jodie Foster). While the film received mixed reviews, Stewart garnered positive notices for the role.
In 2005, Stewart appeared in the fantasy-adventure film Zathura, playing the role of Lisa - an irresponsible older sister of two little boys, who turn their house into a spacecraft hurtling uncontrollably in outer space by playing a board game. The movie received praise by critics, but Stewart's performance didn't garner much media attention as it was noted that her character is immobilized during most of the movie. The following year, she played character Maya in Fierce People, directed by Griffin Dunne. After that, she received the lead role of Jess Solomon in the supernatural thriller movie The Messengers, the movie was successful commercially, however, critically, it received highly negative reviews by critics.
In 2007, Stewart appeared as beautiful teenager Lucy Hardwicke in In the Land of Women, a romantic drama starring Meg Ryan and O.C. star Adam Brody. The movie, as well as Stewart's performance, received mixed reviews. This same year, Stewart starred in Sean Penn's critically acclaimed adaptation film Into the Wild. For her portrayal of Tracy- a teenage singer who had a crush on young adventurer Christopher McCandless- Stewart received generally positive reviews. Salon.com considered her work a "sturdy, sensitive performance", and Chicago Tribune noted that she did "vividly well with a sketch of a role." Meanwhile Variety magazine's critic Dennis Harvey commented skeptically, "It's unclear whether Stewart means to be playing hippie-chick Tracy as vapid, or whether it just comes off that way." After Into the Wild, Stewart had a cameo appearance in Jumper and also appeared in What Just Happened, which was released in October 2008. She will also co-star in The Cake Eaters and The Yellow Handkerchief, which was filmed in Louisiana.
