Kirsten Dunst
Biography
Kirsten
Caroline Dunst was born on April 30th, 1982 in Point Pleasant, New
Jersey. Unlike so many child actors whose promise diminishes with
the onset of adulthood, Dunst has grown in both range and popularity.
She has already garnered over 40 film and television credits and
continues to command hefty sums for acting appearances.
Dunst
made her acting debut before she was able to walk. She was signed
to the Ford Modeling Agency as a child and by age 12, she had made
over 100 commercials.
In 1989,
Dunst made her film debut with a small role in Woody Allen’s
New York Stories. This was soon followed by a role as Tom Hank’s
daughter in the film adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s bestselling
novel, The Bonfire of the Vanities.
Dunst
got her big break at the tender age of 11, when she played the pre-pubescent
bloodsucker Claudia in the screen adaptation of Anne Rice’s
Interview with the Vampire. Although critical response to the film
was mixed, Dunst received high marks from reviewers for her controlled
portrayal of an adult perpetually trapped in a child’s body.
Rice’s literary following flocked to the film and made Dunst
a ghoulish cult favorite. For her performance, Dunst received the
MTV Movie Award for best breakthrough performance and a Golden Globe
nomination for best supporting actress.
Dunst
went on to appear in a string of major Hollywood productions including
Little Women (1994), Jumanji (1995) and Wag the Dog (1997), but
also received critical attention for her performances in the less-publicized
mock-documentary Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) and the political spoof
Dick (1999).
Dunst
engineered a successful transition to “adult” roles
with her 2000 appearance in Sophia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides.
Dunst received positive critical attention for her facility with
the movie’s weighty themes of teen suicide and burgeoning
sexuality.
Dunst
further cemented her move from darling daughter to femme fatale,
playing Marion Davies, silent-film actress and mistress to William
Randolph Hearst, in Peter Bogdanovich’s semi-biographical
The Cat’s Meow (2002).
Dunst
was chosen to play opposite fellow child-phenom Tobey Maguire in
the 2002 adaptation of Spiderman. The film netted $114 million in
its opening weekend, a box-office record, and proved Dunst and Maguire's
ability to play bankable leading roles. The two then went on to
film the sequal, released in 2004, which was equally sucessful.
Dunst then continued with more serious films, such as Columbia Pictures'
The Crimson Petal and the White, a period piece about a well-read
prostitute taken in by a wealthy family in Victorian London, and
Mike Newell's Mona Lisa Smile with Julia Roberts. Dunst will also
star in Wimbledom as an up-and-coming American tennis ace.
In her
early teens, Dunst’s family moved to Los Angeles to further
her career. When her parents separated, she and her brother remained
with her mother, Inez. Film commitments required Dunst to abandon
high school and finish her degree with private tutors. Plans for
college have also been abandoned in favor of acting. Dunst continues
to live Los Angeles.
Kirsten Dunst Filmography
Marie-Antoinette (2006)--Marie
Antoinette
Elizabethtown (2005)--Claire Colburn
Wimbledon (2004)--Lizzie Bradbury
Spider-Man 2 (2004)--Mary Jane Watson
Spider-Man 2: The Game (2004) (VG) (voice)--Mary Jane Watson
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)--Mary
Mona Lisa Smile (2003)--Betty Warren
Kaena: The Prophecy (2003) (voice)--Kaena
Levity (2003)--Sofia Mellinger
Spider-Man (2002)--Mary Jane Watson
The Mummy Parody (2001) (TV)
The Cat's Meow (2001)--Marion Davies
Crazy/Beautiful (2001)--Nicole Oakley
Get Over It (2001)--Kelly 'Kel' Woods
All Forgotten (2000)--Zinaida
Savage Garden: 'I Knew I Loved You' video (2000)--Girl on Subway
Deeply (2000)--Silly
Bring It On (2000)--Torrance 'Torr' Shipman
Luckytown Blues (2000)--Lidda Doyles
The Crow: Salvation (2000)--Erin Randall
Dick (1999)--Betsy Jobs
Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)--Amber Atkins
The Virgin Suicides (1999)--Lux Lisbon
The Devil's Arithmetic (1999) (TV)--Hannah Stern
Stories from My Childhood (1998) TV Series (voice)--Alice/Gerda
Strike! (1998)--Verena Von Stefan
Kiki's Delivery Service (1998) (voice)--Kiki
The Animated Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1998) (voice)--Becky Thatcher
Small Soldiers (1998)--Christy Fimple
Fifteen and Pregnant (1998) (TV)--Tina Spangler
True Heart (1997)--Bonnie
Wag the Dog (1997)--Tracy Lime
Anastasia (1997) (voice)--Young Anastasia
Tower of Terror (1997) (TV)--Anna
Ruby Ridge: An American Tragedy (1996) (TV)--Sara Weaver
Mother Night (1996)--Young Resi Noth
Children Remember the Holocaust (1995) (TV) (voice)
Jumanji (1995)--Judy Shepherd
Greedy (1994)--Jolene
Little Women (1994)--Younger Amy March
Interview with the Vampire (1994)--Claudia
Darkness Before Dawn (1993) (TV)--Sandra Guard (age 8)
High Strung (1991)--Young Girl
The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)--Campbell McCoy
Loving (1990-1991) TV Series--Young Child
New York Stories (1989)--Lisa's Daughter |
