Twilight star Kristen Stewart isn't making the transition from a serious indie star to a sudden teen sensation quite as quickly as her handlers may have hoped, leading to some bitchy backtalk in the press. (Who could have guessed that a shy, 18-year-old actress might not be comfortable facing a sea of screaming fangirls, half of whom hate her because she gets paid to mack on their pretend boyfriend? Shocking.)

In yesterday's Chicago Sun-Times, columnist Bill Zwecker commented on Stewart's frequent "out-of-it demeanor" and revealed that a number of his media colleagues had complained at a recent press junket about her inability to answer "even the most basic questions" about her role.

"It's not like we were delving into her personal life, asking who she's dating, or whether she'd been to rehab," Zwecker quotes a "well-known Hollywood reporter" as griping.

In Entertainment Weekly's latest Twilight cover story, the film's director, Catherine Hardwicke, acknowledges Stewart's reluctance to play the game, telling the magazine, "I think she's had a lot of trouble. She knows it's important, but it's not her favorite part of the job."

While co-star Robert Pattinson seems comfortable in his new role as Hollywood's It Boy, charming talk show hosts with tales of his dirty hair and neck biting, Stewart appears much less at ease, resulting in some truly cringe-worthy press moments. The most awkward was her squirmy, distracted appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman last week, in which the exasperated host attempted to pry answers from the sullen star before poking fun at her future plans to "drive to Russia" from London. At one point in the trainwreck of an interview, the actress admitted, "I'm actually really boring. I was like 'what am I going to talk about on Letterman? I have no idea,'" to which Letterman deadpanned, "Did you tell [your publicist] that?" 

She then followed up the interview with equally fidgety and reticent (though slightly less embarrassing) appearances on The Today Show and Live with Regis and Kelly.

Don't worry, Kristen. We're sure the movie studio will force you into a media training bootcamp before you have to promote Twilight's sequel, New Moon. The next time we see you on the press circuit, you'll no doubt be sporting a soulless, toothy grin and gushing about your new line of leggings and your upcoming guest spot on Hannah Montana. Godspeed, Disney-esque personality transplant team!

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