Actor Kristen Stewart is styled by Miranda Almond in ‘Looking Ahead’, lensed by Alexi Lubomirski for Harper’s Bazaar UK October 2019./ Hair by Adir Aberg; makeup by Jillian Dempsey

The Chanel ambassador enters her interview scene with Sophie Elmhirst wearing floor-length black velvet and a black bow at her throat. "Yeah," she says, seeing my face. "It’s intense. It’s a lot of look."

In short order, California-girl Stewart is back in ripped jeans, ready to talk her fluid sexuality, directorial debut, finding the freedom to be herself and her upcoming role in ‘Charlie’s Angels’. The film opens in November with Elizabeth Banks directing.

The internet lost its collective mind when the trailer came out, writes Elmhurst. Kristen Stewart, the ultimate cool girl, doing stunts, doing comedy. "I did Charlie’s [Angels] because I’m a huge fan of Liz Banks and I always felt she vouched for me," she explains. "I always felt, like, she doesn’t think I’m a freak." It was still an act of friendship, but one that allowed Stewart to show off her little-known goof ball side and exceptional fighting skills. When her friends watched the trailer, they told her: 'Dude, that’s you. Finally!'"

In the years after ‘Twilight’, Kristen Stewart is a lot less cautious. It’s as though something has fallen away: caution, certainly, but also a former antipathy towards the whole publicity game that has haunted her on a global scale ever since the extraordinary success of Twilight. "Every day I get older, life gets easier," she says, smiling broadly.

While Stewart shakes her head over the brazen confidence of the Instagram generation, she says it’s the younger generation who has given her the confidence to speak openly about her gender fluidity on matters of sexuality.

She doesn’t identify as bisexual, she doesn’t identify as a lesbian, she doesn’t like labels. She’s a different person every day she wakes up and delighted by that. "I just think we’re all kind of getting to a place where – I don’t know, evolution’s a weird thing – we’re all becoming incredibly ambiguous," she explains. "And it’s this really gorgeous thing."

She accepts that she is now a standard-bearer for sexual ambiguity. Reality is that Stewart could care less about the impact of her sexuality on her career. In the past, she says, "I have fully been told, 'If you just like do yourself a favour, and don’t go out holding your girlfriend’s hand in public, you might get a Marvel movie.'" She looks almost amused at the memory. "I don’t want to work with people like that." Now, by contrast, people approach her, drawn to that undefined sexuality, wanting to make movies about it. Stewart shakes her head in mock despair. "Literally, life is a huge popularity contest."

Kristen Stewart is working on a special project, having bought the movie rights to author Lidia Yuknavitch’s ‘The Chronology of Water’. As she approaches her 30th birthday, Stewart finally read the script aloud to the author. "It was a really, really satisfying feast of an intimidating experience" says Stewart. "I like being intimidated, so that’s fine."

Next come all the operational challenges of producing a movie and taking on the responsibility of cast and crew. "I know how precious it is –I’ve done it," she says. "I can’t wait to make sure that I don’t mess up anyone’s chance to be great." Read on at Harper’s Bazaar UK.