During her ride northward, Stewart hasn't always been gracious about the attention slathered on her and Twilight costarts Robert Pattison and Taylor Lautner. (And who can blame her for being frightened by the ravenous impulses of her most ardent fans.)

"In film, I have chronicled every stage of my life since I was nine,'' she tells "W. "And it's more intense now, obviously, because I'm not in control of it anymore."

But Stewart's refusal to allow herself to be consumed by the Fame Monster, along with her rejection of Hollywood's typical prescriptives for young glamor -- has forced the 21-year-old actress to defend herself.

"It's a funny thing: You want so badly for people to see what you do -- you're proud of it -- and I like the effect that movies have on people," Stewart says in the September W, for which she transforms from tomboy into intoxicating cover girl. "But the attention can also make me uncomfortable.

"In certain situations, people say to me, 'C'mon, what's wrong with you?" I apologize. I love what I'm doing, but I'm a little uncomfortable."

Now as the "penultimate" installment of the Twilight franchise, Breaking Dawn, Part One nears its November 18 release, Stewart's shoot for W's September issue seems a deliberate attempt to make peace with her place in Hollywood's firmament. In it, she channels Liz Taylor circa 1965 -- all big hair, cat eyes and mascara.

But maybe Stewart's physical transformation is all about timing. Just as Bella had to wrestle with conflicting emotions before ultimately choosing a side, maybe Stewart needs for the Twilight series to die before living in peace with Bella.

After shooting her "last true final scene" of Breaking Dawn, "I felt like I could shoot up into the night sky and every pore of my body would shoot light,'' Stewart tells W. "I felt lighter than I've ever felt in my life."