Kristen Stewart to play Princess Diana in upcoming movie about royal family

Kristen Stewart has been cast in a new royal role.

The American actress, 30, will be playing Princess Diana in a new film titled "Spencer" directed by Pablo Larraín, according to Deadline. Steven Knight has penned the script and production is set to start in early 2021.

The film will cover a life-changing weekend in the early 1990s around the Christmas holiday at the Windsor family's Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England, when Diana decided her marriage to Prince Charles was over and she needed to step back from life as a royal family member.

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“Kristen is one of the great actors around today,” Larraín said of casting the "Twilight" star. “To do this well, you need something very important in film, which is mystery. Kristen can be many things, and she can be very mysterious and very fragile an ultimately very strong as well, which is what we need. The combination of those elements made me think of her. The way she responded to the script and how she is approaching the character, it’s very beautiful to see. I think she’s going to do something stunning and intriguing at the same time. She is this force of nature."

Kristen Stewart (L) and Princess Diana (R) (AP/Getty)

Larraín also confirmed the film won't cover the tragic death of Diana but instead will focus on her turbulent marriage to Charles and her role as a mother to sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.

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“Diana is such a powerful icon, where millions and millions of people, not just women, but many people around the world felt empathy toward her in her life," Larraín said. "We decided to get into a story about identity, and around how a woman decides somehow, not to be the queen. She’s a woman who, in the journey of the movie, decides and realizes that she wants to be the woman she was before she met Charles."

The "Jackie" directed added the film is about Diana "finding herself, about understanding that possibly the most important thing for her is to be well and to be with herself and by herself."

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He explained, “That’s why the movie is called Spencer, which is the family name she had before she met Charles. It’s very contained, set over a few days in Sandringham. They spent Christmas there for many years and that’s where we set the movie in the early ‘90s, around 1992, we’re not specific. It’s Christmas Eve, Christmas and Boxing Day, three days, very contained. We get to understand what it is she wants and what she will do."

A rep for Stewart didn't immediately return Fox News' request for comment.

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