Photo credit: Denis Makarenko / Shutterstock.com

Kristen Stewart doesn’t usually like to address her romantic relationships, but that’s all about to change…

For her InStyle November cover story, the 30-year-old actress sat down with Clea Duvall, the director of her upcoming movie Happiest Season, to talk about her former relationships with both men and women.

It’s all very fitting, as Happiest Season is about a woman named Harper (played by Mackenzie Davis) who has yet to come out to her family, and brings her girlfriend Abby (Kristen Stewart) home for Christmas.

Given her dating history, Kristen was asked whether her past experiences influenced her decision to take on the role of Abby in the movie…

“The first time I ever dated a girl, I was immediately being asked if I was a lesbian. And it’s like, ‘God, I’m 21 years old.’ I felt like maybe there were things that have hurt people I’ve been with,” she recalled.

“Not because I felt ashamed of being openly gay but because I didn’t like giving myself to the public, in a way. It felt like such thievery. This was a period of time when I was sort of cagey.

“Even in my previous relationships, which were straight, we did everything we could to not be photographed doing things—things that would become not ours. So I think the added pressure of representing a group of people, of representing queerness, wasn’t something I understood then.

“Only now can I see it. Retrospectively, I can tell you I have experience with this story. But back then I would have been like, ‘No, I’m fine. My parents are fine with it. Everything’s fine.’ That’s bullshit. It’s been hard. It’s been weird. It’s that way for everyone.”

Kristen Stewart famously dated her Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson between 2009 and 2013, before dating women such as Alicia Cargile, Soko, and Stella Maxwell. She is now in a relationship with Dylan Meyer, who she reportedly started dating in August last year.

Kristen also told the publication that she did feel enormous pressure to be a spokesperson for the LGBTQ+ community, although it didn’t come from the community itself…

“I had no reticence about displaying who I was,” she continued.

“I was going out every day knowing I’d be photographed while I was being affectionate with my girlfriend, but I didn’t want to talk about it. I did feel an enormous pressure, but it wasn’t put on me by the LGBTQ+ community.

“People were seeing those pictures and reading these articles and going, ‘Oh, well, I need to be shown.’ I was a kid, and I felt personally affronted. Now I relish it. I love the idea that anything I do with ease rubs off on somebody who is struggling.

“That shit’s dope! When I see a little kid clearly feeling themselves in a way that they wouldn’t have when I grew up, it makes me skip.”

You can read the rest of Kristen’s interview in the November issue of InStyle, and online.