In an interview last week with Elle magazine, notoriously private actress Kristen Stewart opened up about her dating life, talking for the first time about her girlfriend Alicia Cargile, a film producer.

“Right now I'm just really in love with my girlfriend,” Stewart said. “We've broken up a couple of times and gotten back together, and this time I was like, 'Finally, I can feel again.'”

Stewart said that she decided to open up about her relationship with Cargile so as to avoid the appearance that she's “ashamed” about dating a woman.

“I was like, 'Actually, to hide this provides the implication that I'm not down with it or I'm ashamed of it, so I had to alter how I approached being in public,” she said.

Stewart, who for years refused to publicly acknowledge that she was dating Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson, added that it was easier to discuss her love life with a woman.

“When I was dating a guy I was hiding everything that I did because everything personal felt like it was immediately trivialized, so I didn't like it,” she said.

Stewart dodged questions about her sexuality as recently as last month, telling the LA Times that it would be “weird” to discuss such details in public.

Stewart stars in the science fiction film Equals.