Multi-hyphenate Kristen Stewart adds "classic theater restorer" to her hyphens

In that context, it’s hard to fault Kristen Stewart for throwing some of her clout and cash at the history of cinema, as Architectural Digest reports that Stewart is moving forward with plans to buy and restore Los Angeles’ Highland Theater. Situated in the city’s Highland Park neighborhood, the Los Angeles Historical-Cultural Monument was just shy of its 100th birthday when it closed back in 2024, ending a run that saw it play host to vaudeville, decades of classic films, and—for a hot second in the 1970s—adult films. Designed by well-known theater architect Lewis Arthur Smith, the theater reportedly failed to bounce back from the pandemic lockdowns, with marquees for Madame Web serving as its impromptu tombstone.

Now, Stewart has bought the building with an intent to restore it. “I didn’t realize I was looking for a theater until this place came to my attention,” she told AD. “Then it was like a gunshot went off and the race was on. I ran toward it with everything I had. I’m fascinated by broken-down old theaters. I always want to see what mysteries they hold.” Posing for a photo shoot in a theater that looks, essentially, destroyed, Stewart acknowledged that she and her team have a lot of work to do: “There are so many beautiful details that need to be restored. I think there’s a way to bring the building back to life in a way that embraces its history but also brings something new to the neighborhood and something new to the whole LA film community.”

Stewart branched out into the wide and varied world of the Hollywood multi-hyphenate last year, serving as a producer on her directorial debut The Chronology Of Water. And while talking about her dreams of reviving the Highland as “an antidote to all the corporate bullshit, a place that takes movie culture away from just buying and selling” that’s “not just for pretentious Hollywood cinephiles,” Stewart did note that the Highland isn’t her first major investment into the L.A. community; she also supports and champions the city’s Downtown Women’s Center, saying, “LA is drowning in inadequacy in our response to homelessness. The city is at odds with itself.”