Kristen Stewart, 'Twilight' Star Speaks on Relationship With James Gandolfini, 'The Sopranos' Star

Several days after the death of "Sopranos" star James Gandolfini, one of his close friends in Hollywood has finally released a comment on his passing. Kristen Stewart spoke to Entertainment Weekly on Tuesday. 

"When I heard of James' passing I was in New Orleans, where we met shooting, and every memory flooded back and gutted me," she said in a statement. "I'll hold that time near to me forever.  He was immeasurably great. My heart goes out to his beloved family."

The pair had appeared together in the critically acclaimed indie film "Welcome to The Rileys," which came out in 2010. Gandolfini played a character not all too different from Tony in the Sopranos, and Stewart played the self-destructive teen stripper who he hoped to reform. During their time together on set, Gandolfini had to deal with plenty of "Sopranos" fans, but Stewart was up to her neck in Twihards from her time playing Bella in the movie series based around the "Twilight" series. The actress says she admired Gandolfini's handling of the attention. 

 "Jim was ... the s---," she said. "He's quiet. We got along well because we let it happen the way it's supposed to. It was very organic, very cool."

Many heaped praise upon Gandolfini, but he also had admiration for Stewart as an actress, writing a piece for Variety magazine when she starred in an adaptation of Jack Kerouac's "On The Road." 

"Kristen Stewart is one of the mad ones. But mad in a beautiful way," he wrote. "And she is determined to make people mad. To show them she is more than Bella in Twilight. To show them she does burn, and smolder, and wants more out of her career and life. And smolder she does."