Kristen Stewart truly kept us waiting for her first major TV role, and the wait certainly paid off! The Oscar-nominated actress will play the lead role in The Challenger, the limited series that chronicles the journey of the first American woman in space, Sally Ride.
The Challenger draws inspiration from Meredith E. Bagby’s book The New Guys, which centered on some of NASA’s most groundbreaking astronomers. Sally Ride made the cut after making history as the first American woman to fly to space, in addition to being the first openly LGBT+ astronaut to do so.
Kyra Sedgwick’s Big Swing Productions is producing the film alongside Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners. Stewart herself decided to hop on board as a producer via Nevermind Production, after becoming determined to get this project off the ground.
“Who better to play Sally Ride than one of the great actors of her generation? As they say in Hollywood, passion wins the day. Her passion for being an executive producer is vast… She was so stunning in these pitch meetings and that was a huge part of why it has been so competitive,” Sedgwick told Deadline.
Stewart most recently starred in the hit Sundance drama Love Lies Bleeding, and will next be seen in post-apocalyptic drama Love Me and road comedy Sacramento.
