Kirsten Dunst has spent nearly her entire life in front of the camera.
The Academy Award nominee started her career at just 6 years old and steadily made a name for herself as one of Hollywood’s most promising young stars of the 1990s (including earning a Golden Globe nomination at age 12 for Interview with the Vampire).
Away from the screen, Dunst dated some of her famous costars before settling down with husband Jesse Plemons in recent years.
Now a mother of two young sons, Dunst continues to deliver iconic screen performances in awards contenders such as The Power of the Dog and Civil War.
Keep scrolling for a look back at Dunst’s life and career:
Child Actress
Dunst made her acting debut at age 6 in the 1989 anthology movie New York Stories, in which she played Mia Farrow’s daughter in a segment directed by Woody Allen.
After starring with Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis in the 1990 comedy The Bonfire of the Vanities, Dunst continued building up her already-impressive resume with a notable guest appearance in Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1993 as the telepath Hedril.
‘Interview with a Vampire’
Dunst’s true Hollywood breakthrough came at age 11 for her performance in Interview with the Vampire as Claudia, a dying girl turned into a vampire by the undead nobleman Lestat (Tom Cruise). Her work in the Anne Rice adaptation was heralded as a star-making moment by critics, and earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Speaking to The Telegraph in 2024, Dunst reflected on working with Cruise and Brad Pitt at such a young age.
Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons turned the 2024 Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards into date night. The duo stepped out in matching outfits on Thursday, January 4, while attending the event at the Palm Springs Convention Center. Dunst, 41, opted for a black Valentino gown with an open back while Plemons, 35, wore a […]
“[I was] treated like a princess,” Dunst recalled. “Yes, it was a virtually all-male set, but everyone was very gentle and kind, and nothing ever felt weird.”
She then revealed, “One morning, around Christmas, I remember going into my dressing room at Pinewood and [Cruise had] set up a beautiful tree in there for me, covered in ornaments.”
‘Jumanji’
Dunst followed up her star-making turn in Interview with a Vampire with a more light-hearted project — 1995’s Jumanji. Dunst took part in large-scale action sequences for the first time in her career as her character, Judy, tried to escape from a magical board game with Robin Williams’ Alan Parrish.
She told Variety in 2024 that Williams bought her her first-ever computer during the making of Jumanji.
“It was an Apple, the ones that came in all those different colors,” she remembered. “[Williams] was like the most generous, kind, funny person.”
‘Little Women’ and ‘Virgin Suicides’
Director Gillian Armstrong’s 1994 adaptation of author Louisa May Alcott‘s beloved novel assembled an all-star female cast, pairing Dunst as Amy March with Winona Ryder (Jo March) and Claire Danes (Beth March).
Little Women was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Ryder receiving a Best Actress nod in 1994 (though Jessica Lange won for Blue Sky.) Dunst won a Young Artist Award for Best Performance by a Youth Actress Cotarring in a Motion Picture.
Dunst was supportive when director Greta Gerwig remade Little Women in 2019 with a new generation of young stars — Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson and Florence Pugh.
“It’s so nice; each generation I feel like it’s such a classic,” she told Variety at the time. “It’s nice to see someone else’s take on it.”
Another success for Dunst early in her career was 2000’s The Virgin Suicides, director Sofia Coppola’s breakthrough film about the tragic lives of five adolescent sisters in 1970s Detroit.
Dunst later noted that the “the scene that made [her] the most nervous” on The Virgin Suicides was having to simulate a makeout session with costar Josh Hartnett.
“I remember once, he was like, ‘Oh, I think you bit me.’ And I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ I was so mortified,” she told GQ. “And one time his wig got weird. And, I mean, I had kissed a guy in real life before, but I had never jumped on him… and the car! I just was very innocent and that was a lot for me.”
‘Spider-Man’ Trilogy and ‘Bring It on’
Dunst may be best known for portraying sassy Marvel Comics heroine Mary Jane Watson in Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man trilogy, from 2002 to 2007. In 2002’s Spider-Man, Maguire and Dunst took their place in Hollywood history with a classic upside-down kiss scene.
Dunst admitted on The Jonathan Ross Show in 2024 that her epic kiss with Maguire was “kind of miserable” to film because of a simulated rain effect.
“It was pouring with rain, freezing, Tobey couldn’t breathe so it was almost like I was resuscitating him,” she joked.
We are cheerleaders! Bring It On became an instant cinematic classic when it debuted in August 2000, thanks to knockout performances from Kirsten Dunst, Gabrielle Union and more cast members. The comedic film followed a group of rival cheerleaders as they competed to win a national championship amid allegations of cheating, blossoming love and plenty of other […]
In this same era, Dunst starred with Eliza Dushku and Gabrielle Union in the 2000 blockbuster Bring It On, about a high school cheerleading squad’s quest for glory at a national championship tournament. Dunst looked back on Bring It On’s legacy in a 2024 interview with Variety.
“We did extensive dance rehearsal, which I loved,” she said. “I was a cheerleader in eighth grade — that’s why I did the movie! I wanted to see this movie.”
Jake Gyllenhaal Relationship
Before his very public coupling with Taylor Swift, Gyllenhaal dated Dunst between 2002 and 2004. Dunst had previously worked with Jake’s sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal, on the 2003 drama Mona Lisa Smile.
Dunst confessed in 2009 that she and Jake weren’t friendly following their breakup.
“It would be nice to see him,” she told Allure. “But we’re not good friends.”
Handling Her Mental Health
In 2008, Dunst was treated for depression for two weeks at the Cirque Lodge rehab facility in Sundance, Utah. She left Cirque Lodge to film All Good Things in March 2008 and later told E! News that it was important for her to address her mental health.
“I was struggling, and I had the opportunity to go somewhere and take care of myself,” she said at the time. “I was fortunate to have the resources to do it. My friends and family thought it was a good idea, too.”
‘Elizabethtown’
Dunst bounced back for a memorable pairing with Orlando Bloom in director Cameron Crowe’s 2005 romantic comedy Elizabethtown, which dealt with themes of grieving and self-care.
Her portrayal of free-spirited Claire Colburn actually inspired the term “Manic Pixie Dream Girl,” which was coined by critic Nathan Rabin in his review of Elizabethtown. The often-pejorative term applies to a standard film trope of a quirky woman who attracts a more straight-laced male lead.
Dunst infamously rejected the “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” label, telling The AV Club in 2011 that her performance in Elizabethtown was not “manic at all.”
“I’m very chill,” she added, before clarifying: “I feel that all of Cameron’s girls are quirky with a sparkle. You know what I mean? Like, they are always kind of, you know… talk too much. You know what I mean?”
Garrett Hedlund Relationship
Dunst started dating Hedlund after starring together in the 2012 movie version of Beat poet Jack Kerouac’s groundbreaking novel On the Road. The pair were briefly engaged but called it quits before ever getting married.
Jesse Plemons Relationship
Plemons and Dunst found love in real life after playing high school sweethearts Peggy and Ed in Fargo’s second season. At the time, Plemons gushed about his experience working with Dunst.
“It was a gift,” he said at PaleyFest in 2015. “I loved Kirsten’s work for a long time, and I was really excited once I’d met her, and she’s a great person, and we’re both actors that just … have fun with the material.”
Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons have a very special method to their success while working together — and it starts by keeping their distance. “Because we fell in love on a set, we fell in love creatively first,” Dunst, 41, said during a Tuesday, March 5, interview with Marie Claire. “I think we’ll always come […]
They were spotted together as a couple for the first time in 2016, with Plemons popping the question the following year.
A spokesperson for the duo confirmed to Us Weekly in 2022 that Plemons and Dunst tied the knot in Jamaica.
Children’s Births
Dunst welcomed her and Plemons’ first child, son Ennis, in 2018 and son James followed in 2021. She told Extra TV in 2024 that being a mother helped her become a better actress.
“[My kids] make me better at what I do, for sure,” she said. “I think, once you’re a mom, you’re just more fearless in life.”
‘The Power of the Dog’
Dunst received her first Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for Netflix’s 2021 Western drama The Power of the Dog, in which she costarred with husband Plemons. (Ariana DeBose won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for West Side Story in 2022).
She shared with Marie Claire in 2024 that she hadn’t worked for “two years” following her Academy Award nod because “every role [she] was being offered was the sad mom.”
“To be honest, that’s been hard for me…because I need to feed myself,” she said. “The hardest thing is being a mom and … not feeling like, I have nothing for myself. That’s every mother — not just me.”
‘Civil War’
Dunst made her big screen comeback in writer-director Alex Garland’s dystopian thriller Civil War, playing a journalist documenting frightening atrocities during a bloody battle between American factions.
Her son James celebrated his first birthday during the filming of Civil War. Dunst spoke to Extra TV at the time about how she viewed Civil War’s depiction of political violence and division in light of her motherhood journey.
“I thought about [those themes] way before this movie,” she acknowledged. “It’s just naturally the anxieties of the time we’re living in.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org/.
#Kirsten #Dunsts #Iconic #Roles #Love #Life #Years
