Jan 25 2010 4:55 PM EST

Kristen Stewart has lots of options. Over the weekend, she stretched herself out even further, continuing her refusal to let Hollywood box her in.

The "Twilight" series star is only 19 years old, yet already has nearly 20 films under her belt — from thrillers ("Panic Room") to family films ("Zathura") to heavy drama ("Into the Wild") and, of course, vampire films. Thanks to the role of Bella Swan, she's as popular and powerful as any A-list Hollywood star — and now, for the third straight year, KStew has hit the Sundance Film Festival with independent work she's eager to promote.

 During the fest we spoke with Kristen about "Welcome to the Rileys," a teen-stripper drama about a woman who has no options. And Stewart was eager to tell us that people who have their backs against the wall make for great stories — even for an actress who won't let anybody back her into a corner.

"It opens your eyes to people who just don't have any options," Stewart said of "Rileys," which tells the tale of a broken-down family man (James Gandolfini) who sees KStew's troubled character Mallory as a surrogate daughter in need of saving. "You know what I mean? I'm speaking very vaguely about it, because [Mallory's situation is] so awful. But yeah, [not having options] is the only way I can describe it."

Of course, Kristen unveiled a double-barreled attack at the festival, as she also premiered "The Runaways," a 180-degree turn that had her portraying rocker Joan Jett. To some fans, the flicks were quickly abbreviated as "the stripper movie" and "the rock movie," but Kristen told us there was much more going on.

"[The shocking thing is] maybe that it's not, like, shocking," Stewart answered when asked whether the movie will surprise her legions of devoted "Twilight" fans. "It's really not a stripper movie at all.

"You never see me stripping," she insisted, although reports are aplenty that Stewart spends much of the movie in various states of undress. "I think that it's a really good story. Most 'Twilight' fans are young girls, and this is a really, really good story for them."


-Källa

/Alexandra