Kristen Stewartis reflecting on the “superpower” ofPrincess Diana’s that she got to tap into while portraying her onscreen inSpencer.

The first-timeOscarnominee, 31, tells PEOPLE ahead of the March 27 ceremony that “Diana Spencer made people feel good,” and that she played the late royal “at a time that was hard and tumultuous and sad, but she also has this unstoppable light.”

“And to even attempt to try and touch that, I learned a lot, but specifically, I felt like I was allowed to grow as a person,” Stewart explains. “Even if it was in my imagination and I was completely convincing myself that suddenly I had this superpower that she had, which wasto make people feel good.”

“While we made the movie, I felt like I had that, and it was a really beautiful feeling,” she adds.

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Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana inSpencer(2021).Shoebox Films

Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana

Stewart says she loves what the movie is about, specifically, “If you can’t show yourself and you have a cut-off portal to your life.”

“Diana, especially in the time that we deal with her, she’s very muzzled,” the actress explains. “The opportunity to have this exchange, it is not lost on me any second of any day how cool that is.”

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She also shouts out the “integrity” of her costumes: “Sometimes, wardrobe can feel like wardrobe — you know that every pocket doesn’t necessarily work, or if something’s built … you feel in costume.”

“Inever felt like I was in costume, and [she’s] the most extreme character I’ve ever played,” Stewart says. “And she expressed herself in the things she put on her body. Sometimes it was armor, sometimes it was to ruffle people’s feathers.”

Kristen Stewart (L); Princess Diana.Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images

Kristen Stewart, Princess Diana

Stewart says she is “thrilled” to land her first-ever Academy Award nomination for her work inSpencer, and that the feeling of being recognized is “all the things you would think it would be.”

“It’s incredibly surreal — Inever imagined myself in this arena,” she admits. “I would make movies for free.”

source: people.com