Inside Kristen Stewart's Relationship With Jesse Eisenberg

Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg are two of the most unconventional actors in Hollywood. It seems somewhat inevitable, then, that the offbeat duo would gravitate towards each other. Ever since she first caught the attention of critics with "Twilight," Stewart has been a mainstay of the big screen, even if her career ended up following a far more unorthodox trajectory than anticipated. Having fully embraced smaller projects in lieu of big budget fare in recent years, she's always managed to live her truth both in her personal and professional life.

Eisenberg, meanwhile, is notorious for being socially awkward and miles away from his hunky leading man peers. "Eisenberg is a strange, estranged actor," Vulture once wrote. "In the beginning of his career, he played awkward, gulping sweet kids." As two social misfits, Eisenberg and Stewart have found in each other, as Uproxx points out, a Hollywood friendship for the ages.

The quirky pair are aligned by a number of corresponding qualities. For instance, they tend to choose varied and challenging roles out of the Hollywood mainstream. They're both famed for their low-key performances and rejection of the typical A-list lifestyle: Stewart told Vanity Fair that she prefers "soul-driven and explorative" films over mainstream narratives, while Eisenberg admitted to NME that he has no interest in living in Los Angeles or making friends with fellow A-listers. But one star he has always been able to rely on is Stewart.

From taking on sexism to sneaky smooches, let's take a deep dive inside Kristen Stewart's relationship with Jesse Eisenberg.

Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg first met on the set of teen dramedy "Adventureland" in 2009. Regarding his first encounter with Stewart, the "Social Network" star told The New Yorker that he was struck by the up-and-coming actor's lack of artifice. "She has an unrealistically high bar for her own authenticity," he said. Although Stewart was a mere 17-years-old during filming (Eisenberg was decidedly more grown-up at 24), her co-star could tell that great things were coming her way. To Eisenberg, Stewart appeared a movie star in the making — even if he elected to avoid the term. "I don't understand how to articulate that," he said. "Which is why we have the words 'movie star.' But: an enigmatic quality, mixed with a naturalism, mixed with an emotional depth."

When he first met Stewart, it was her surprising comedic timing that really endeared Eisenberg towards her, per Collider. Of course, Eisenberg was highly intuitive seeing as Stewart was eventually revealed to be a secret funny woman: she left fans howling years later when she hosted "Saturday Night Live."

Ever since their first meeting, the pair have been close friends, as Stewart revealed to USA Today. In fact, she celebrated her 24th birthday with Eisenberg in 2014. According to an insider who chatted to E!, Stewart enjoyed the evening before her special day with Eisenberg and a group of pals, as they grabbed dinner at a restaurant. Reportedly, they spent four hours wining and dining together.

Since their first onscreen pairing in "Adventureland," Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg have appeared in two more flicks together. Their debut stint as an on screen couple was praised by The New Yorker as a sweet depiction of summer ennui and young love.

Their second onscreen appearance came with a decidedly different genre for the indie darlings: action flick "American Ultra." In fact, Stewart only agreed to take on the role when she found out that Eisenberg was attached. "As soon as I heard that Jesse was attached to a script that was sent my way, before I even read it, I was almost certain," she told E!. High praise indeed. Although these two quirky stars don't seem the types to emerge on the big screen all guns blazing, the film was by no means traditional action fare. Donning a long-haired wig, Eisenberg played a stoner suffering from panic disorder, who is thrust into a CIA plot against his will. All the while, Stewart portrayed his devoted girlfriend. In an otherwise lackluster review, Vulture praised the actors' palpable chemistry, suggesting that their charming rapport was the only reason to stick it out with the movie.

A year later, fans were treated to a double shot of Stewart and Eisenberg for Woody Allen's "Café Society," once again playing lovers. Although the actors have never confirmed any past romance between them, they undeniably had a sizzling screen presence as their characters engaged in a whole latte loving.

Both Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg are, admittedly, anomalous figures in Hollywood. She's the erstwhile Bella Swan who went on to work with arthouse directors and has habitually rejected sexist typecasting. He's the anxious crazy cat dude (his dream movie date is 42 cats) who has openly confessed to having no interest in being a traditional romantic leading man, per Vulture. It is this social awkwardness that makes the actors gravitate towards each other.

As the pair revealed in a chat with Esquire, they're both socially awkward, or, as Stewart put it, "socially paranoid." When answering true or false questions for the outlet, Stewart admitted that she's paranoid to an anxiety-inducing extent. Eisenberg could very much relate, relaying a story in which a man he mistook for a fan said "I love you;" believing the fellow was talking to him, Eisenberg returned the compliment only to discover that the guy was actually professing his love to his girlfriend. "I was so embarrassed," he reflected. Big yikes.

Speaking about their idiosyncratic bond during an appearance on Today, Stewart admitted that she and Eisenberg are outsiders, which is central to their friendship. As she explained, "We're both just kind of like weirdos ... We get it from each other ... We're like the nerds who actually like, as a whole, become like, 'Oh really? we can make a cool movie together!'" Finding your nerdy soulmate is no easy feat, so we're glad that these two have managed to form their, erm, antisocial network.

When you find your Hollywood BFF, you stick together like Bonnie and Clyde, or in this case, Kristen and Jesse — albeit without the bank robbing and bloodshed. There are a select few actors who love working together so much that they'll appear alongside one another time and time again. Of course, this is a winning dynamic that goes back to Hollywood's Golden Age via iconic pairings such as Cary Grant and Irene Dunne or Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy.

So when Uproxx suggested that Eisenberg and Stewart are like the new John Travolta and Olivia Newton John, the latter responded with, "Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy" — something she had iterated in a previous interview. The New Yorker also picked up on the pair being the next Hepburn and Tracy, which is apt considering Hepburn's queer history, comparable to Stewart having embraced life as an out and proud actor in Hollywood.

Indeed, much like the unmistakable rapport of the aforementioned Hollywood icons, Stewart and Eisenberg have a certain idiosyncratic chemistry. Accordingly, they love working together. "When we worked together on 'Adventureland,' I loved it," Stewart told Uproxx. "Well, it's weird because sometimes you have to fabricate a dynamic, and we have happened to fall onto pictures that completely cater to what we already have going on. Which is really fun." Regarding how they found their acting soulmates, Eisenberg joked to Today, "I just got lucky. I guess for her, she lost a bet!"

Kristen Stewart has proven herself an avid fan of, ahem, herbal remedies since she was a teen. As she detailed in a Vanity Fair profile, one of her first ever encounters with the paparazzi entailed the then-18-year-old smoking pot with an ex. "I'm kind of a weirdo, creative Valley Girl who smokes pot. Big deal," she said. Indeed, she has been dope at, erm, dope for many years, telling MTV she first learnt how to roll a joint from a prop guy at an alarmingly young age. Eisenberg, however, has disclosed that he isn't quite as adept at joint-rolling as Stewart, per Vulture. He admitted to the outlet that he feels marijuana is an inherently selfish pursuit.

In a segment for MTV's "Stoner Talk Show," the duo acknowledged that they're pots apart when it comes to weed, with Eisenberg declaring that he wasn't high at all despite the marijuana smoke slowly suffusing the room. Meanwhile, a potentially-already-high Stewart embraced the smoky ambience, joking in typical stoner fashion that she would struggle to eat Eisenberg due to his lack of flesh. Charming. 

In a video for BuzzFeed in which Stewart schooled her pal on stoner lingo, Eisenberg professed that he would be much more likely to embrace Stewart's lifestyle if the substance didn't impair his memory. "Be like neuroses osmosis," Stewart joked to her skittish pal, much to his astonishment. These two may share social awkwardness, but they're far from two peas in a pot.

Jesse Eisenberg has worked with Woody Allen on more than one occasion. He first joined Allen's notoriously sizable ensemble cast in "To Rome with Love" in 2012. Four years later, he and Kristen Stewart teamed up for the veteran director's "Café Society." But considering that Allen's controversial history was well-documented at the time, their decision to work with him was met with backlash.

Eisenberg probably didn't help matters when he was asked to address Allen's alleged problematic behavior while promoting the film. "I don't think it's appropriate to try people in the press," he told Huffington Post. "I have been tried in the press for minor, minor things because I mis-spoke or had a sarcastic line or something, so I understand what that's like." Stewart made equally controversial remarks at the time, telling Variety, "Jesse and I talked about this. If we were persecuted for the amount of s**t that's been said about us that's not true, our lives would be over." Considering that Allen stands accused of some not-so-minor things, the pair's statements seem more than a tad inappropriate.

Since the advent of the #MeToo movement, many actors have expressed their regret at working with Allen. But Eisenberg and Stewart don't appear to be among them. In fact, the former outright refused to discuss Allen in an interview with iNews, though he did offer sympathy to abuse survivors.

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Throughout the years, Jesse Eisenberg has made some pretty contentious statements. From comparing press junkets to genocide to his defense of Woody Allen, the seemingly meek star has proven a polarizing figure. But one of his most controversial moments came when he gave an interview with Univision reporter Romina Puga in 2013 and was subsequently labeled a jerk. Throughout the sit-down, Eisenberg mocked the young interviewer and almost made her cry. Subsequently, Puga published a blog post in which she said that the actor humiliated her for his own enjoyment.

"I didn't know the appropriate way to handle something that's completely mischaracterized ... Listen, I would never wanna upset somebody, and if I did upset her, obviously I would have acknowledged that," Eisenberg told NME. He also claimed that he tried to apologize, but couldn't find Puga's contact details. Although Eisenberg defended his actions, many weren't buying it. In fact, NME branded his behavior "excruciating to watch."

While many condemned him for his treatment of Puga, not everyone agreed that Eisenberg behaved like a jerk. Throughout the controversy, Kristen Stewart had her bud's back, incredulous as to how anyone could have deemed Eisenberg's antics to be obnoxious. "I saw that! My friend showed me that," she explained, adding that her pal thought the actor was a jerk. "And I was like, 'Why? That's crazy,'" Stewart told Uproxx.

Kristen Stewart has made no secret of her disdain for the sexism of Hollywood. Speaking to Harper's Bazaar in 2015, she condemned the industry for being "disgustingly" sexist. That same year, Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg appeared in a video for "Funny Or Die" that subverted the double standards women face during press junkets.

During the satirical skit, the actors interviewed each other, which resulted in Stewart asking her pal the sorts of questions reserved for women in the industry. While Eisenberg asked Stewart how she prepared for the physical challenges of her role in "American Ultra," she queried him on his fashion choices. "They may have switched our cards," Eisenberg suggested. Stewart went on to press Eisenberg about his love life, whether he's pregnant, and which of his boobs is his favorite. "Now I know what it's like to be a woman," he uttered by the end of the interview.

All joking aside, it's Eisenberg's apparent lack of braggadocio and machismo that draws Stewart towards him. He did, after all, star in the film "The Art of Self-Defense," which has been upheld by some as the ultimate cinematic exposé on toxic masculinity, per the Los Angeles Times. In an interview with Collider, the "Spencer" star highlighted that Eisenberg is a male co-star who's safe to be around in an industry notorious for harboring problematic individuals. "I'm really comfortable with him, I feel safe... I think he's kind of fun to hang out with too, that makes it all a good experience," she said.

Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg may be great pals, but on more than one occasion they've hinted at something a little more bubbling at the surface. In fact, in a joint interview with Collider, the twosome made no secret of the adoration they have for each other. Subsequently, they ended up complimenting one another's looks. "She's like the least vain person you'll ever meet and she's also like a pretty woman," Eisenberg blurted. Rather modest, Stewart joked that her co-star has to spend more time in makeup than she does. When the outlet suggested that Eisenberg's long stretch in the makeup chair made him look prettier than Stewart, she agreed.

It seems these pals can't stop fawning over each other. Speaking with USA Today, the duo gushed about each other's many talents. "To me she's the ideal scene partner, because she's so real and so funny," Eisenberg enthused. We stan.

And, it must be said, they have smooched on more than one occasion. When filming "Café Society," Stewart and Eisenberg were snapped locking lips rather passionately indeed, per The Mirror. However, these two are strictly platonic: Stewart is very much devoted to wife-to-be Dylan Meyer and Eisenberg married his long-term partner Anna Strout, per the Los Angeles Times. Yes, they may not be Bella and Edward, but these two are the ne plus (American) ultra when it comes to Hollywood friendships.