Alia Shawkat and Kristen Stewart have reunited on screen in the Neon comedy "The Wrong Girls", sixteen years after they first worked together on the 2010 rock biopic "The Runaways". Speaking at a Q&A screening ahead of the new film's 14 August cinema release, the pair recalled that Shawkat was barred from speaking on set during "The Runaways" for legal reasons, meaning their earlier collaboration involved little real interaction despite them "hitting it off". Their comments highlight how the new film has finally allowed them to properly play off one another as friends after years without working together again.

In "The Runaways", directed by Floria Sigismondi, Stewart played Joan Jett while Shawkat portrayed Robin Robins, a fictionalised stand-in for bassist Jackie Fox, whose character was written as an entertainment lawyer unwilling to be involved in the film, restricting Shawkat to a silent, background role. By contrast, "The Wrong Girls", written and directed by Dylan Meyer, casts Shawkat and Stewart as codependent stoner best friends Molly and Frankie, who face eviction before stumbling into a mind-altering drug plot and a case of mistaken identity. Both actors described the new project as the first genuine chance to hang out and perform as close friends, with the film also featuring LaKeith Stanfield, Zack Fox and other cast members ahead of its August 2026 release.