Kirsten Caroline Dunst (born April 30, 1982 in Point Pleasant, New Jersey) is a New Jersey-born American actor of German and Swedish descent.
She started out as a child actor, gaining tremendous recognition with the role of Claudia in Interview with the Vampire, but her career as an adult has been significantly more prolific than her career as a child. This might be helped by her acting mainly in smaller films, with the occasional blockbuster, thus not being tied to any one role.
But one thing that does stand out is her Girl Next Door looks and demeanor, being sweet and wholesome, but not too much.
In 2007 she wrote and directed a short film called Welcome, starring Winona Ryder.
She is married to Jesse Plemons, her Fargo co-star. Both were nominated for Best Supporting Oscars for their roles in The Power of the Dog. They have two sons together.
Her roles include:
- New York Stories (1989) as Lisa's daughter
- Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) as Kiki (Disney English dub)
- The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) as Campbell McCoy
- Sisters (1993) as Kitten Margolis
- Star Trek: The Next Generation (1993) as Hedril
- Greedy (1994) as Jolene
- Interview with the Vampire (1994) as Claudia
- Little Women (1994) as Young Amy March
- Jumanji (1995) as Judy Shepherd
- ER (1996-97) as Charlie Chiemingo
- Mother Night (1996) as Young Resi Noth
- Touched by an Angel (1996) as Amy Ann McCoy
- The Outer Limits (1997) as Joyce Taylor
- Anastasia (1997) as Young Anastasia (voice)
- Wag the Dog (1997) as Tracy Lime
- Fifteen & Pregnant (1998) as Tina Spangler
- The Hairy Bird (1998) as Verena Von Stefan
- Small Soldiers (1998) as Christy Fimple
- The Devil's Arithmetic (1999) as Hannah Stern
- The Virgin Suicides (1999) as Lux Lisbon
- Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) as Amber Atkins
- Dick (1999) as Betsy Jobs
- The Crow: Salvation (2000) as Erin Randall
- Bring It On (2000) as Torrance Shipman
- Get Over It (2001) as Kelly Woods
- Crazy/Beautiful (2001) as Nicole Oakley
- The Cat's Meow (2001) as Marion Davies
- Spider-Man Trilogy as Mary Jane Watson
- Spider-Man (2002)
- Spider-Man 2 (2004)
- Spider-Man 3 (2007)
- Kaena: The Prophecy (2003) as Kaena (English dub)
- Mona Lisa Smile (2003) as Betty Warren
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) as Mary Svevo
- Wimbledon (2004) as Lizzie Bradbury
- Elizabethtown (2005) as Claire Colburn
- Marie Antoinette (2006) as Marie-Antoinette
- How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008) as Alison Olsen
- All Good Things as Katie McCarthy
- Melancholia (2011) as Justine
- Bachelorette (2012) as Regan Crawford
- On the Road (2012) as Camille Moriarty
- Upside Down (2012) as Eden Moore
- The Bling Ring (2013) as herself
- Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013) as El Trousias Maiden of the Clouds
- Portlandia (2014) as Kim
- Cosmos (2014) as Cecilia Payne (voice)
- Fargo (2015) as Peggy Blumquist
- Midnight Special (2016) as Sarah Tomlin
- Hidden Figures (2016) as Vivian Mitchell
- The Beguiled (2017) as Miss Edwina Morrow
- Woodshock (2017) as Theresa
- Black Mirror (2017) as Callister Employee
- Drunk History (2018) as Agatha Christie
- On Becoming a God in Central Florida (2019) as Krystal Stubbs
- Hank the Cowdog (2020) as Sally May (voice)
- The Power of the Dog (2021) as Rose Gordon
- Civil War (2024) as Lee
Tropes associated with her include:
- Cute Little Fangs: You'd almost think she was destined to play a vampire
- Former Child Star: Averted. She burst onto the scene as a child star in the 90s but managed to transcend that and carve out a respectable career as an adult actress. The films she's done as an adult are usually more remembered than her child roles.
- Girl Next Door: Common in many of her roles, she tends to play fairly down-to-earth characters that still are considered quite attractive. She's not always lovey-dovey though.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Her performance as Claire Colburn in Elizabethtown is what led critic Nathan Rabin to coin the trope name and define the character archetype in a piece he wrote about the film
. For the record, Dunst is not a fan of the term. - Mouthy Kid: In her early teen movies she was quite known for this. Bring it On, Drop Dead Gorgeous, and Get Over It are her best examples.Felix: "Shouldn't you be at a pajama jammy jam or something?"Kelly: "What am I a year younger than you? Not that anyone can tell from your birthday presents. Pink roller blades."
- Ms. Fanservice: Most notably in Spider-Man, where she famously spent a scene in a very thin shirt in the rain. She's also played a cheerleader, been in many photoshoots, appeared topless, and even appeared fully nude in Marie Antoinette and Melancholia.
- Pretty in Mink: Wore a white rabbit dress for a magazine shoot◊, and wore some fur-trimmed dresses playing Marie-Antoinette.
- Romance on the Set:
- She, like her successors, Emma Stone and Zendaya, played the Love Interest to Spider-Man and dated the actor that played him (Tobey Maguire), in Real Life too, for a short while.
- She and Garrett Hedlund dated for four years after they worked together in On the Road.
- She and Jesse Plemons began dating several months after they worked together in Season 2 of Fargo. They are now engaged and have two sons.
- Star-Making Role: Interview with the Vampire established her child career. Spider-Man established her adult career.
