Biography
One of the leading actors of her generation, Kirsten Dunst made her name in teen films without succumbing to entrapment in the teen film ghetto. Skinny, blonde, and possessing a charmingly crooked Pepsodent smile, she has repeatedly demonstrated her talent and charisma in projects ranging from kiddie comedies to high school romances to towering summer blockbusters.
Born in Point Pleasant, NJ, on April 30, 1982, Dunst first appeared in front of a camera at the age of three, when she became a Ford model and commercial actor. She continued to model and do commercials until 1989, when she made her film debut in
Woody Allen's
New York Stories. Her uncredited role led to a part as
Tom Hanks' daughter in the infamously troubled 1990 adaptation of Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities.
Three years later, Dunst got her first big break when director
Neil Jordan chose her over 5,000 hopefuls for the role of Claudia, the child vampire in his 1994 adaptation of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire. Dunst made a big impact on audiences and critics alike with her portrayal of a woman trapped eternally in the body of an 11-year-old, kissing co-star
Brad Pitt, and gorging herself on human and animal blood. That same year, Dunst also appeared alongside
Winona Ryder and
Susan Sarandon in
Gillian Armstrong's adaptation of Little Women; the combined success of these two movies propelled Dunst to the top of the child-actor hierarchy, in terms of both bankability and exposure.
Dunst followed up with a lead role in the
Robin Williams action-fantasy
Jumanji (1995), and lent her voice to a few animated features, including Disney's
Anastasia (1997). She also had a brief but memorable turn as a refugee from a war-torn country in
Barry Levinson's highly praised satire
Wag the Dog (1997).
1999 marked a turning point in Dunst's career, as she began appearing in films that cast her as a young woman instead of a precocious child. She starred as a small-town beauty queen contestant in the satirical comedy
Drop Dead Gorgeous and as one of two teenage girls (the other played by
Michelle Williams) who unwittingly uncover the Watergate scandal in
Dick, another satirical comedy. Dunst further lived up to her title as one of Teen People's 21 Hottest Stars Under 21 with her leading role as the sexually rebellious Lux in
Sofia Coppola's acclaimed adaptation of Jeffrey Eugenides' novel The Virgin Suicides (1999). Her work in the film proved to be a critical breakthrough for Dunst, whom critics praised for her portrayal of the conflicted, headstrong character.
Dunst subsequently did her bit for the high school comedy-romance genre, starring as a cheerleader in
Bring It On (2000), and as another teen queen in
Get Over It (2001); she also forsake makeup and a hairdresser for her role as the archetypal poor little rich girl in crazy/beautiful (2001), a teen romantic drama.
Subsequently cast as the actress
Marion Davies in
Peter Bogdanovich's
The Cat's Meow, Dunst got her first shot at playing a grown woman. She garnered praise for her work in the period drama, but any notice she received was quickly eclipsed by the maelstrom of publicity surrounding her starring role as Mary Jane Watson, true love of Peter Parker in
Sam Raimi's big-budget adaptation of
Spider-Man. Playing opposite
Tobey Maguire as the web-spinning superhero, Dunst spent a lot of the movie running around as a damsel in distress, but there was nothing distressing about the 110-million dollars the film grossed in its opening weekend, breaking new box-office records and catapulting both Dunst and Maguire into the rarefied realm of full-fledged movie stars.
Even though
Spider-Man gave her a great deal of box-office clout, she continues to mix more offbeat films with more box-office friendly material. She acted opposite
Billy Bob Thornton in the little-seen drama
Levity in the same year she accepted a role as one of the three young students inspired by art teacher
Julia Roberts in
Mona Lisa Smile. A very busy 2004 found Dunst appearing in the
Spider-Man sequel, a film that was universally regarded as superior to its predecessor, and taking a small but key supporting part in the superb
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. These two roles were so well received that the non-event of her starring in the romantic comedy
Wimbledon barely registered. She was the only person to escape unscathed from
Elizabethtown, before reteaming with
Sofia Coppola to star as
Marie Antoinette. Again, her performance was well received despite the film being less than popular, but she had a bankable success hiding in her toolbelt with the 2007 release of
Spider-Man 3. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide