Kristen S

It was that resolve, Stewart reveals in Entertainment Weekly's summer movie preview issue, that made the character much easier to play. "I wasn't as tortured as I was on 'New Moon.' Bella really knows what she wants in 'Eclipse.' She's not just a dumb kid talking because she's in love."

That's not to suggest that playing a more-focused Bella was a breeze. Though the teen matures over the course of the story, graduating from high school and getting engaged to Robert Pattinson's Edward, at one point she is pulled back into the romantic embrace of Taylor Lautner's werewolf Jacob. That scene was difficult, both because Stewart sees Lautner as something of a younger brother and because she understands that Bella truly loves Edward.

"It felt really weird kissing someone else as Bella. I was like, 'What the hell are you doing?' " she said. "It was a really strange experience — as it should have been."

And then there's an experience that fans have been looking forward to for years — one not strange at all but rather a long time coming: Edward and Bella's engagement. Producer Wyck Godfrey said the scene will more than fulfill expectations. "She walks into Edward's room, and there's a beautiful four-poster bed, and it's like, 'Wow, here we go!' "