WATCH: Kristen Stewart Talks About 'The Honor' Of Walter Salles' 'On The Road' & Her Character's Hungry Heart

Kristen Stewart says it was director Walter Salles' passion for On The Road  that inspired her to sign on for the film. At the New York premiere for the film, the actress, who plays free-spirited Marylou  (a character based on Beat icon Neal Cassady's onetime wife LuAnne Henderson), Stewart told me she was impressed by the immersive research that Salles did — including a 2011 documentary called Searching for On The Road — in preparation for adapting Jack Kerouac's novel for the screen. "There's an honor to this story and to the project that is not typical in our business," Stewart said.

Salles is lucky to have her riding shotgun, too.  Hollywood has been trying to turn  On the Road into a movie since the year it was published, 1957, and Stewart's immense star power was crucial to getting the job done.

RELATED: Check out Movieline's photo gallery of Kristen Stewart and Garrett Hedlund at the On The Road screening at AFI Fest 

Salles also talked to me at the premiere as did cast members Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund and Kirsten Dunst and screenwriter Jose Rivera. It was fun to congratulate him for getting top billing on the movie poster — a rare thing indeed for writers in Hollywood.

Check out my full interview below:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFnlqoI6rag&w=640&h=360]

MORE ON KRISTEN:

Kristen Stewart Shares How 'On The Road' Helped Her Be Unabashedly Herself

Kristen Stewart Talks 'Hard Love' In Toronto For On The Road

Kristen Stewart Tells Toronto Her Character's Ability To 'Love So Openly' Was Difficult, Nude Scenes Not So Much

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