KRISTEN Stewart has hit back at internet speculation that she has outgrown playing Bella Cullen (formerly Swan) in the Twilight series, claiming that she “loves” the character.

The 22-year-old actress has played the female protagonist of the Twilight movies since the release of the first in 2008, and has recently finished work on the highly-anticipated final film in the series, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2.Responding to claims that she is disdainful of the hit movie series, she told Entertainment Weekly: “It’s nuts. It’s insane! I have never loved this character - ask anyone involved! I don’t really get it.” She then went on to speculate that photographs of her on the red carpet may be responsible for public misconception, claiming: “The reason they say I don’t like Twilight is because I don’t smile at the premiere. But I do smile at the premiere of Twilight. People’s opinion of my opinion of this movie - that I love - has to do with how I don’t smile, I guess.” The actress recently spoke of her excitement at playing Bella as a vampire in Breaking Dawn - Part 2, saying she wants her to be “the best” vampire in the series. Despite her enthusiasm, her on and off-screen love interest Robert Pattinson claimed that she did not respond well to wearing the coloured contact lenses that the actors playing vampires are required to fit, saying that she “condensed four years of complaining into a few months”. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 will be released in the UK on November 16.                  –DS