Kirsten Caroline Dunst (born April 30, 1982) is a Golden Globe-nominated American actress, known for her roles in Interview with the Vampire, The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette, and Bring It On, as well as Mary Jane Watson in the Spider-Man film series.
Her Early life
Dunst was born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, to Inez and Klaus Dunst, who are separated. Her father, a German medical services executive from Hamburg, remained in New Jersey but now lives in Los Angeles, California. Her mother, a Swedish former art gallery owner, also moved to California. Dunst has a younger brother, Christian.
Dunst attended the Ranney School in New Jersey, and graduated in 2000 from Notre Dame High School in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Her Career
Dunst got her start as a child fashion model at the age of three in television commercials. She was signed with Ford Models and Elite Model Management. In a 1988 episode of Saturday Night Live, she played the role of President George H. W. Bush's granddaughter, in a sketch in which Dana Carvey acted as President Bush. In 1989, Dunst moved to the big screen with New York Stories. Soon after, she landed a small part in The Bonfire of the Vanities as Tom Hanks' daughter. Dunst also did the voice of Kiki in the 1989 anime film Kiki's Delivery Service. In 1993, Dunst played Hedril in the seventh season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called "Dark Page". She also had a recurring role as a child prostitute, Charlie Chiemingo, on ER.
Her feature film breakthrough came in Interview with the Vampire, a 1994 film based on Anne Rice's novel. The movie featured a scene in which Dunst, then-aged eleven, received her first kiss from Brad Pitt, who was 29. Her performance earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination, the MTV Award for Best Breakthrough Performance and the Saturn Award for Best Young Actress. In 1995 (and again in 2002), she was named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People.
Dunst was also offered the role of Angela in the 1999 Academy Award-winning 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. The same year, she had the role of troubled adolescent Lux Lisbon in Sofia Coppola's independent film The Virgin Suicides.
In 2000, she starred in Bring it On, one of her more widely-recognized roles.
At the 2002 Mar de Plata Film Festival, Dunst won the Best Actress Silver Ombú for her performance as Charlie Chaplin's love interest Marion Davies in Peter Bogdanovich's The Cat's Meow.
At the 2006 Cannes Film Festival Marie Antoinette, premiered and was released in North America on October 20, 2006. In the film, her second with director Sofia Coppola, Dunst plays the title character and uses an American accent in the role. Dunst stated in an interview in 2006 while promoting Marie Antoinette that she wants to take a break from appearing in films to study and pursue art.
Dunst is slated to portray peace activist Marla Ruzicka in Sweet Relief scripted by Lorene Scafaria for Warner Independent Pictures in 2009. Dunst also reprises her role of Mary Jane Watson in Spider-Man 3, which was first released May 1, 2007. Dunst initially signed on to appear in three Spider-Man films, and has said that she would not appear in a fourth film unless director Sam Raimi returned to direct.
In another project, she is rumored to play Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry in director Michel Gondry's upcoming biopic about the band. This would not be Dunst's first foray into music; she made her singing debut in the 2001 film Get Over It, performing two songs written by Marc Shaiman. Previously had appeared in the music video for Savage Garden's "I Knew I Loved You". She also lent her musical voice to the end credits of The Cat's Meow by singing the old standard, "After You've Gone." In Spider-Man 3, she sings two songs as part of her role as Mary Jane Watson, one in MJ's Broadway debut and one as a singing waitress in a jazz club.
Her Personal life
After briefly dating her longtime friend, playwright Jeff Smeenge, she started dating actor Jake Gyllenhaal in September 2002, after meeting him through his sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal (her Mona Lisa Smile co-star). They officially broke up in July 2004 but remained off and on until December 2005. They adopted a German Shepherd dog from a Los Angeles dog shelter and named him Atticus, after Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird. She was recently seen with British rocker Johnny Borrell at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas. Borrell, the frontman of Razorlight, commented on their relationship, saying, "I'm not hiding anything. We met in Los Angeles. We were hanging out at South by Southwest and we've been hanging out ever since."
As of April 9, 2007, Dunst admitted that she has tried marijuana and other illegal drugs. Dunst claims that, "I've never been a major smoker, but I think America's view on weed is ridiculous. I mean - are you kidding me? If everyone smoked weed, the world would be a better place. I'm not talking about being stoned all day, though. I think if it's not used properly, it can hamper your creativity and close you up inside."