Kristen Stewart and several others are believed to have contracted the coronavirus while filming "The Happiest Season" earlier this year. Production on the film had just begun when a "bunch of people" suddenly got sick on the set in Pittsburgh. It was at the start of the pandemic and actress Aubrey Plaza is convinced it was COVID-19.
"[Filming started] right before COVID, in fact. COVID was on our set, Kristen got sick. We didn’t know," the actress said during an appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," according to Metro.
Plaza said nobody really took it seriously when the "Twilight" star, and several others on the set, fell ill.
"A lot of people got sick. I think it was the last week in February, it was that zone where people were starting to talk about coronavirus, but people were kind of laughing about it. Nobody understood how serious it was, but I think a bunch of people on our set got sick. I didn’t, thank god."
It was only after filming wrapped up that Plaza said she learned people in Pittsburgh had been getting sick from the virus for "a long time."
"When I was leaving the set and going to the airport, probably like on February 29 or something, I said to one of the transpo guys, 'do you think I should be worried about this virus thing? What’s going on with this thing?' and he was like, 'it’s already here … oh that s--t has been in Pittsburgh for a long time,'" she continued, "he was right."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.