Kristen Stewart says Jodie Foster was not the first choice for Panic Room’s leading lady

Kristen Stewart was just 10 when she starred in the cult thriller Panic Room. Now she’s revealed a little-known fact about its leading lady.

Before Twilight catapulted Kristen Stewart to superstardom, the US actress got her big break as a child star on the 2002 thriller, Panic Room.

A then 10-year-old Stewart starred as the daughter of Jodie Foster’s character in the David Fincher directed film, which proved both a critical and commercial success.

And in an interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert promoting her new movie Spencer, Stewart revealed a little-known fact about Panic Room: It turns out Australian actress Nicole Kidman was initially cast as the lead, and even began filming it before she had to pull out in the early stages.

Kristen Stewart revealed Nicole Kidman had Jodie Foster’s role in Panic Room.

“We worked together years ago, and she [Kidman] had to drop out of the movie because she injured herself, she was going to be in Panic Room,” Stewart said. “We rehearsed for weeks.”

As it turns out, Kidman was injured on set after two weeks of filming, with X-rays revealing a hairline fracture underneath one of her knee joints that was sustained earlier while Kidman was filming 2001’s Moulin Rouge.

Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart in the 2002 film Panic Room.

Since Panic Room was early in production, Fincher wanted to shut down the movie but the studio pressured him to find a replacement due to the significant cost of canning it entirely.

While Sandra Bullock and Angelina Jolie were both flagged as potential replacements, ultimately the role went to Foster who only had a week to prepare before filming resumed.

Nicole Kidman was initially cast in Panic Room. Picture: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

But things turned out just fine for Stewart, who said Foster gave her an elaborate gift for her 11th birthday.

“Jodie Foster got me a mariachi band for my 11th birthday,” she said. “I came here to just brag a lot.”

Flash forward a couple of decades and Stewart is up against Kidman in the 2022 awards show season, with both actresses nominated for several Best Actress awards for their respective roles.

Stewart, who is being lauded for her portrayal of Princess Diana in Spencer, lost to Kidman for Being the Ricardos at the Golden Globes earlier this month.

Both are tipped to be nominated for an Academy Award when the Oscars nods are announced in February.

But there’s certainly no rivalry between the pair.

“I spoke to Nicole Kidman for like 45 minutes on a Zoom call, and then she sent me flowers,” Stewart added in the interview. “[Just because] she had a great time [on the chat].”

Originally published as Kristen Stewart says Jodie Foster was not the first choice for Panic Room’s leading lady