Kristen Stewart Is First American Actress To Win France’s Cesar Award

Kristen Stewart made history on Friday by becoming the first American actress to take home a prize from France’s Cesar Awards.

The “Twilight” star won Best Supporting Actress for her role in the Olivier Assayas-directed film “Clouds of Sils Maria,” in which she co-starred with Juliette Binoche – who was nominated for Best Actress – and Chloe Grace Moretz.

Kristen praised French filmmaking at the Paris ceremony.

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“There is a great divide between what motivates people to make films in the States and to compare it to what motivates people to make films here, and I kinda prefer it here,” she said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “If you’re not scared of something it’s not worth it. It takes a pretty unique American filmmaker to do something and to do it scared and to do it anyway, and here that’s what it’s really about and what film lives and breathes here,” she said.

Also at the reception, Marion Cotillard got emotional when she presented Sean Penn with an honorary Cesar, calling him an “actor, director and humanist,” according to THR.

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Sean said he seeks “refuge” from Hollywood in French films.

“It has been a very sustaining inspiration, so when I came with my first film as a director, which was in Cannes, there was a sense of film and a discussion about film that was so refreshing and compared to that which I think is follow the advertising, which instead of let the advertising follow, which I think is too much in American film and so to be honored by those who honor me with inspiration and encouragement is notable,” he said.

— Paige Feigenbaum