But the actress said the scariest part of filming Snow White and the Huntsman involved acquiring a skill completely removed from her Twilight experiences: riding a horse.

‘The dynamic between horse and rider is so not for me,’ she told us. ‘Give me a carrot or an apple; don’t put a saddle on him. I want to watch him run around a pasture—I’ll run with him!’

Even so, it was challenges like leading a galloping army that attracted Stewart to the role.

‘I’ve always wanted to find something where I could really challenge myself physically,’ she said. ‘What I really dug about this was that you’ve got someone who has the gusto, and you can totally sit as an audience member and take a lot of satisfaction in watching her kick a**, but she’s not a dude.

‘We [women] are not built to be physically strong.... You have to outsmart someone, you have to be quicker, you’ve got to have a strong heart.’

This fearlessness made Stewart the perfect choice to play Snow White, director Rupert Sanders said.

‘When we met Kristen, we saw someone who had a very rebellious kind of spirit,’ he said. ‘She’s a bit like a wild horse—she’s hard to hold down. I liked that. I thought the Snow White character couldn’t be demure and quiet; she needed to be someone tough.... She’s got quite a craziness to her which I think is right for the character.’

See the SWATH stars at the world premiere

Check out costume designer Colleen Atwood's SWATH sketches

Watch our exclusive SWATH video