Kirsten Caroline Dunst (born April 30, 1982) is an American actress, model, and singer. She made her film debut in
Oedipus Wrecks, a
short film directed by
Woody Allen for the anthology
New York Stories (1989). At the age of 12, Dunst gained widespread recognition playing the role of vampire
Claudia in
Interview with the Vampire (1994). She was nominated for a
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for this performance. That same year she appeared in
Little Women, to further acclaim.
Dunst achieved international fame as a result of her portrayal of
Mary Jane Watson in the
Spider-Man trilogy. Since then her films have included the romantic comedy
Wimbledon (2004), the science fiction drama
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and
Cameron Crowe's tragicomedy
Elizabethtown (2005). She played the title role in
Sofia Coppola's
Marie Antoinette (2006), and she starred in the comedy
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008).
In 2001, Dunst made her singing debut in the film
Get Over It, in which she performed two songs. She also sang the jazz song "
After You've Gone" for the end credits of the film
The Cat's Meow (2001). In early 2008 Dunst confirmed she was suffering from depression, checking into a treatment center before discharging herself in March and resuming her career.
Early life
Dunst was born in
Point Pleasant, New Jersey to Klaus and Inez Dunst. She has a younger brother, Christian (born 1987).
Her father worked as a medical services executive, and her mother was an artist and one-time gallery owner.
Dunst is of German descent on her father's side, and Swedish on her mother's.
Until the age of six Dunst lived in New Jersey, where she attended
Ranney School before moving with her mother and younger brother to Los Angeles, California in 1991. In 1995, her mother filed for divorce.
The following year Dunst began attending
Notre Dame, a private Catholic high school in Los Angeles. After graduating from Notre Dame she continued the acting career that she had begun at the age of eight.
As a teenager, Dunst found it difficult to deal with her rising fame, and for a period blamed her mother for pushing her into acting as a child. However, she later expressed that her mother "...always had the best intentions".
When asked if she had any regrets about the way she spent her childhood, Dunst said: "Well, it's not a natural way to grow up, but it's the way I grew up and I wouldn't change it. I have my stuff to work out [...] I don't think anybody can sit around and say: 'My life is more screwed up than yours.' Everybody has their issues."
Career
Early work
Dunst began her career when she was three years old as a child
fashion model in
television commercials.
She was signed with
Ford Models and
Elite Model Management.
At the age of eight she made her film debut in a minor role in
Woody Allen's
Oedipus Wrecks, a short film that was released as one-third of the anthology
New York Stories (1989).
Soon after, she landed a small part in
The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), as
Tom Hanks's daughter.
In 1993, Dunst played Hedril in "
Dark Page", the seventh episode of the seventh season of
Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Critical success
The breakthrough role in Dunst's career came in
Interview with the Vampire, a 1994 film based on
Anne Rice's novel, in which she played the child vampire
Claudia, a surrogate daughter to
Tom Cruise and
Brad Pitt's characters in the film.
The film received generally unfavorable reviews,
but many film critics complimented Dunst's performance.
Roger Ebert commented that Dunst's creation of the child vampire Claudia was one of the "creepier" aspects of the film, and mentioned her ability to convey the impression of great age inside apparent youth.
Todd McCarthy in
Variety noted that Dunst was "just right" for the family.
The film featured a scene in which Dunst received her first kiss from Brad Pitt, who was 18 years her senior.
In an interview with
Interview magazine, she revealed, while questioned about her kissing scene with Pitt, that kissing him had made her feel uncomfortable: "I thought it was gross, that Brad had
cooties. I mean, I was 10."
Her performance earned her the
MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, the
Saturn Award for Best Young Actress, and her first
Golden Globe Award nomination.
She then appeared in the adaptation of the drama
Little Women (1994), Dunst portrayed Amy March, opposite
Winona Ryder and
Claire Danes.
The film received favorable reviews;
critic
Janet Maslin of
The New York Times wrote that the film was the greatest
adaptation of the novel and remarked on Dunst's performance: "The perfect contrast to take-charge Jo comes from Kirsten Dunst's scene-stealing Amy, whose vanity and twinkling mischief make so much more sense coming from an 11-year-old vixen than they did from grown-up Joan Bennett in 1933. Ms Dunst, also scarily effective as the baby bloodsucker of
Interview With the Vampire, is a little vamp with a big future."
In 1995, she appeared in the fantasy movie
Jumanji, loosely based on
Chris Van Allsburg's 1981
book of the same name.
The story is about a supernatural and ominous board game which makes animals and other jungle hazards appear upon each roll of the dice.
She was part of an ensemble cast that included
Robin Williams,
Bonnie Hunt, and
David Alan Grier. The movie grossed $100 million worldwide.
That same year, and again in 2002, she was named one of
People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People.
In 1996, Dunst had a recurring role in the third season of
NBC's medical drama
ER. She portrayed a child prostitute, Charlie Chiemingo, taken under the guidance of
Dr. Doug Ross, played by
George Clooney.
In 1997, she was the voice of Young Anastasia in the animated musical film
Anastasia.
Also in 1997, Dunst appeared in the political satire
Wag the Dog, opposite
Robert De Niro and
Dustin Hoffman.
The following year she was the voice of the title character, Kiki, a 13-year-old apprentice witch who leaves her home village to spend a year on her own, in the
anime movie
Kiki's Delivery Service (1998).
Dunst was offered the role of Angela in the 1999 drama film
American Beauty, but turned it down because she did not want to appear in the film's suggestive sexual scenes or kiss co-star
Kevin Spacey.
She later explained: "When I read it, I was 15 and I don't think I was mature enough to understand the script's material."
That same year, she appeared in the comedy
Dick, alongside
Michelle Williams. The film is a parody retelling the events of the
Watergate scandal which lead to the resignation of U.S. president
Richard Nixon.
In
Sofia Coppola's independent film
The Virgin Suicides (1999), Dunst played the role of troubled adolescent Lux Lisbon.
The film was screened as a special presentation at the 43rd
San Francisco International Film Festival in 2000.
The movie received generally favorable reviews,
and
San Francisco Chronicle critic Peter Stack noted in his review that Dunst "beautifully balances innocence and wantonness".
In 2000, she played Torrance Shipman, the captain of a cheerleading squad in
Bring It On.
The film generated mostly critical reviews,
with Charles Taylor of
Salon.com writing that the film had failed to provide Dunst with as good a role as she had either in
Dick or in
The Virgin Suicides. However, Jessica Winter of
The Village Voice complimented Dunst, stating that her performance was "as sprightly and knowingly daft as her turn in
Dick. She provides the only major element of
Bring It On that plays as tweaking parody rather than slick, strident, body-slam churlishness."
The movie grossed $68 million worldwide.
The following year, Dunst had the lead in the teen comedy
Get Over It (2001).
She later explained that one of the reasons for accepting the role was that it gave her the opportunity to sing.
Also in 2001, Dunst depicted the late American actress
Marion Davies in
The Cat's Meow (2001). The film, directed by
Peter Bogdanovich, was described by Derek Elley of
Variety as "playful and sporty", saying of Dunst that this was her best performance to date. "Believable as both a spoiled ingenue and a lover to two very different men, Dunst endows a potentially lightweight character with considerable depth and sympathy."
In the
Esquire review, Tom Carson called her performance "terrific".
For her work, she won the Best Actress Silver Ombú category award at the 2002
Mar del Plata Film Festival.
Spider-Man and after
[
Dunst.jpg|thumb|right|Dunst at [[Comic-Con International|San Diego Comic-Con International] in 2006]]
In the 2002
superhero film
Spider-Man, the most successful film of her career to date, Dunst played
Mary Jane Watson, the best friend and love interest of the title character, played by
Tobey Maguire.
The film was directed by
Sam Raimi.
Owen Gleiberman of
Entertainment Weekly remarked on Dunst's ability to "lend even the smallest line a tickle of flirtatious music."
In the
Los Angeles Times review, critic
Kenneth Turan noted that Dunst and Maguire made a real connection on screen, concluding that their relationship involved audiences to an extent rarely seen in films.
was a commercial and critical success.
The movie grossed $114 million during its opening weekend in North America and went on to earn $822 million worldwide.
Following the success of
Spider-Man, Dunst appeared in the independent drama
Levity (2003), where she had a supporting role.
In this same year she starred in
Mona Lisa Smile (2003), part of an ensemble cast that included
Julia Roberts,
Maggie Gyllenhaal, and
Julia Stiles. The film generated mostly negative reviews,
with
Manohla Dargis of the
Los Angeles Times describing it as "smug and reductive".
She next appeared in the supporting role of Mary Svevo in
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), alongside
Jim Carrey,
Kate Winslet, and
Tom Wilkinson.
The latter film received very positive reviews,
with
Entertainment Weekly describing Dunst's subplot as "nifty and clever".
The movie grossed $72 million worldwide.
The success of the first
Spider-Man film led Dunst to reprise the role in the 2004 sequel,
Spider-Man 2.
The movie was well received by critics,
and it proved to be a big financial success, setting a new opening weekend box office record for North America.
With revenue of $783 million worldwide, it became the second highest grossing film in 2004.
Also in 2004, she appeared in the romantic comedy
Wimbledon, a film in which she portrays a rising tennis player in the
Wimbledon Championships opposite
Paul Bettany, who plays a fading former tennis star. Reception for the movie was mixed,
but many critics enjoyed Dunst's performance;
Claudia Puig of
USA Today reported that the chemistry between Dunst and Bettany was potent, with Dunst doing a fine job as a sassy and self-assured player.
In 2005, she appeared as flight attendant Claire Colburn alongside
Orlando Bloom, in
Elizabethtown, a movie written and directed by
Cameron Crowe. The film premiered at the 2005
Toronto Film Festival. Dunst revealed that working with Crowe was enjoyable, but more demanding than she had expected.
The movie garnered mixed reviews,
with the
Chicago Tribune rating it one out of four stars and describing Dunst's portrayal of a flight attendant as "cloying".
It was a box office disappointment.
[
Dunst SM3.jpg|thumb|right|Dunst at the premiere of [[Spider-Man 3] in
Stockholm, Sweden]] in April 2007
Dunst's next film role was the
title character in the 2006
biographical film Marie Antoinette. Adapted from
Antonia Fraser's book
Marie Antoinette: The Journey, the film was Dunst's second with director Sofia Coppola.
The movie was screened at a special presentation at the
2006 Cannes Film Festival,
and was reviewed favourably.
International revenues were $45 million out of $60 million overall.
In 2007 she again played Mary Jane Watson, in
Spider-Man 3.
In contrast to the previous two films' positive reviews,
was met with a mixed reception by critics.
Nonetheless, with a total worldwide gross of $891 million, it stands as the most successful
film in the series, and Dunst's highest grossing film to the end of 2008.
Having initially signed on for three
Spider-Man films, she revealed that she would do a fourth, but only if Raimi and Maguire also returned.
In the 2008 movie
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People Dunst appeared alongside
Simon Pegg.
The movie is an adaptation of the
memoir of the same name by former
Vanity Fair contributing editor
Toby Young.
Dunst signed on to the film, later revealing that she had joined the project because Pegg was scheduled to appear in it.
She agreed to appear in
All Good Things, in a leading role opposite
Ryan Gosling, portraying a woman from a run-down neighborhood who goes missing.
She also signed to appear in
Sweet Relief as
peace activist Marla Ruzicka, a U.S. relief worker killed by a suicide bomb in Baghdad.
She has expressed interest in playing the role of
Blondie frontwoman
Debbie Harry in
Michel Gondry's upcoming biographical film about the band.
She is set to star opposite
Jim Sturgess in
Upside Down with a scheduled release in 2011.
In addition, Dunst will appear in a fourth
Spider-Man film, set for a release in 2011.
Music
Dunst made her singing debut in the 2001 film
Get Over It, performing two songs written by
Marc Shaiman.
She also lent her voice to the end credits of
The Cat's Meow, singing
Henry Creamer and
Turner Layton's
jazz standard "After You've Gone".
In
Spider-Man 3, she sings two songs as part of her role as Mary Jane Watson, one during a
Broadway performance, and one as a singing waitress in a jazz club.
Dunst revealed that she recorded the songs earlier and later
lip-synced to it when filming began.
She also appeared in the
music video for
Savage Garden's "
I Knew I Loved You",
and she sang two tracks, "This Old Machine" and "Summer Day", on
Jason Schwartzman's 2007 solo album
Nighttiming.
In an interview with
The Advertiser, Dunst explained that she has no plans to follow the steps of actors such as
Russell Crowe or
Toni Collette's in releasing an album, saying: "Definitely not. No way. It worked when Barbra Streisand was doing it, but now it's a little cheesy, I think. It works better when singers are in movies."
Personal life
As of 2009 Dunst remains unmarried, and has not been identified with a long-term partner. She has reportedly been involved in short-term relationships with playwright Jeff Smeenge, actor
Jake Gyllenhaal, and musician
Johnny Borrell of
Razorlight.
Dunst supported
Democratic candidate John Kerry in the
2004 U.S. presidential election.
Four years later, she supported Democrat
Barack Obama in the
2008 presidential election.
Dunst revealed that she supported Obama "from the beginning" of the presidential campaign.
In support of this, she directed and narrated a documentary entitled
Why Tuesday, explaining the United States tradition of voting on Tuesdays.
Dunst explained that Tuesday is "not a holiday, and
United States is one of the lowest democratic countries in voter turnout".
She felt it important to "influence people in a positive way" to vote on November 4.
Her charity work includes participation with the
Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, in which she helped design and promote a necklace, for which all proceeds from sales went to the Glaser foundation.
She also has helped with breast cancer awareness; in September 2008 she participated in the
Stand Up to Cancer telethon, to help raise funds to accelerate cancer research.
Dunst has confirmed that she was treated for
depression in early 2008.
She sought treatment at the
Cirque Lodge treatment center in
Utah.
Dunst explained that she had been feeling low in the six months prior to her going to rehab.
In late March she checked out from the treatment center and began filming
All Good Things. In May she went public with this information, she said, to highlight the struggle faced by so many other successful women and to dispel false rumors that had been very painful for her friends and family.
Filmography
