BEVERLY HILLS, California -- There aren't a lot of people walking around out there who'd like to show the world home videos of when they were 16 years old. At best, it's an awkward age where teens are trying to discover themselves, their physical appearances are changing rapidly and most people are far from thinking about taking a career seriously.

Now, just in time to celebrate Kristen Stewart's appointment as one of the most famous young actresses in Hollywood, comes a film called "The Yellow Handkerchief" that the soon-to-be 20-year-old shot nearly four years ago. And when we caught up with her recently to look back on the film, she said she's come so far -- but at the same time, enjoys looking back on those simpler times.

"I think I may have been 16 [when we shot it]," she remembered of the film. "I had so much fun on this movie. We shot in New Orleans -- it seemed quite small and we could really own it. As soon as I met [co-stars] Eddie [Redmayne] and William [Hurt], we all went into this decrepit production office; it was before 'Twilight,' and I was so into the fact I was making little movies."

At the time they shot the love film about young/old romances intersecting in Louisiana, KStew was known primarily for smaller roles in films like "Panic Room" and was hardly the household name she has since become. Just a few months after "Handkerchief" debuted at Sundance, Kristen began filming the original "Twilight" movie.

"I would have done anything for this thing," she said of her mind-set when shooting "Handkerchief" in mid-2007. "I took dance classes. [Making movies] was very different -- I viewed this whole thing differently, not in terms of doing the job but just in terms of what it meant for other people.

"It was mine then; it was just mine," she said of her career at the time. "And no one cared about it. It was cool."

But although those may have been simpler times, Stewart was quick to point out that the last several years have taught her a lot -- about Hollywood, about her profession, about life -- and all of that has made her a better actor. "Oh my God, yeah, like every day [I get better]," she explained. "Acting is so wrapped up in just living. To say you're a better actor [is the same as saying] you're better at being human.

"I definitely think I've grown," she added.

Check out everything we've got on "The Yellow Handkerchief."

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