Kristen Stewart Joins the Rom-Com Craze, But With a Much-Welcome LGBTQ Love Story

With romantic-comedies thriving at the box office (“Crazy Rich Asians”) and online (“Set It Up,” “To All the Boys I Loved Before”), it’s hardly surprising to hear Kristen Stewart is embracing the genre for her next acting gig. Stewart is set to star as one of two leads in “Happiest Season,” a holiday-set romantic-comedy with an LGBTQ love story at the center of the plot.

“Happiest Season” is set to be the latest directorial effort for actress Clea DuVall, who had her feature debut behind the camera with the star-studded 2016 comedy “The Intervention.” Duvall is co-writing the script with her screenwriting partner Mary Holland. The story is set an annual family holiday party where a young woman plans to propose to her girlfriend. The plan gets an unexpected twist when the woman finds out her partner hasn’t come out as gay to her conservative parents.

Both Stewart and DuVall are members of the LGBTQ community, which means “Happiest Season” should be in good hands to deliver funny and honest truths about the coming out experience. Excitingly, the film is being set up at TriStar Pictures, which is a division of Sony Pictures and means that there is finally a new LGBTQ romance in the works at a Hollywood studio following “Love, Simon” this summer.

Stewart last appeared on the big screen in “Lizzie” and world premiered “Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy” at the Toronto International Film Festival. The actress is appearing in TriStar’s “Charlie Angels” reboot next year, directed by Elizabeth Banks, and she’s playing French New Wave icon Jean Seberg in Benedict Andrews’ “Against All Odds.”

Duvall’s “The Intervention” won star Melanie Lynskie an acting prize at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. The director is best known for her work as an actress, having starred in films such as “The Grudge,” “Argo,” “But I’m a Cheerleader,” and “Girl, Interrupted.”