Kristen Stewart fears the death of classic Hollywood cinema.
As the actor-turned-director drove through the streets of Los Angeles and saw beloved local theaters replaced by major retail chains, she decided to step in and help. She and her peers struggled to get movies off the ground.
So she bought a historic movie theater in L.A., emboldened to help save theatergoing in the city that started it all.
Stewart purchased and is restoring the Highland Theatre, a cultural landmark that once hosted vaudeville acts.
“When people are desperate, they start doing desperate things,” Stewart said in an interview with Architectural Digest. “I think buying this theater feels a little desperate in like the most beautiful way.”
The theater shut its doors nearly two years ago — less than a week short of its 100th anniversary. The owner, Dan Akarakian, told The Times in 2024 the theater was unable to recover economically from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Everything that’s already living here is so beautiful. It just needs to be like taken care of,” Stewart said. “I mean, the place is falling down. We definitely need like a lot of help, but it’s worth it.”
The local film and TV industry in L.A. was struggling long before wildfires that ravaged the city early last year dealt another blow, halting production and threatening the homes of stars and crews alike.
Stewart, who first achieved international success with her role as Bella Swan in the “Twilight” saga, said movie theatergoing is becoming a lost art, as “people are watching movies on their tablets and their TVs and likely watching a couple of things at once.”
Stewart hopes the theater can become “a space that families can go and that also filmmakers can go and so we can kind of be in service of each other,” she said. “We can be in actual communication with people and not cut off from each other.”
The three-story building has theater rooms and venue space, ideal to host screenings and public community events, she said.
The theater was designed by architect Lewis Arthur Smith, known for other local theaters like the Vista in Los Feliz and El Portal in North Hollywood.
“It’s an opportunity to make a space to gather and scheme and dream together,” Stewart said. “This project is about creating a new school and restructuring our processes, finding a better way forward.”
Stewart’s effort to save local cinema is not new. A coalition of filmmakers led by “Juno” director Jason Reitman purchased the 93-year-old Village Theater in Westwood in 2024.
Oscar-winning writer-director Quentin Tarantino bought the Vista, also designed by Smith, in 2021. The theater reopened its doors over two years later.
Stewart, who was raised in the San Fernando Valley, has been a longstanding advocate of the L.A. community. She works closely with the Downtown Women’s Center, which provides housing to homeless women.
The actor decried the lack of stories by and for women in Hollywood during her keynote speech at the annual Academy Women’s Luncheon in November.
“I absolutely f— love this city,” she said. “I like the spaciousness. You can decide how you want to fill it.”
