Kirsten Dunst

Kirsten Caroline Dunst (born April 30, 1982, in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, to Klaus and Inez Dunst) is an American actress of German and Swedish descent. Her first name is pronounced "KEER-sten."

Career

Dunst began acting at the age of three in television commercials. 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. Years later, Dunst hosted Saturday Night Live as an adult and brought this to light.

In 1993, Dunst also had a small cameo appereance in Star Trek: The Next Generation as Hedril/Kestra (Troi's sister).

Dunst made the transition to the big screen in New York Stories in 1989. Soon after, she landed a small part playing the daughter of Tom Hanks's character in The Bonfire of the Vanities.

Dunst's breakthrough role was in Interview with the Vampire, a 1994 film based on Anne Rice's novel of the same name and directed by Neil Jordan. This movie features a somewhat controversial scene in which Dunst, then aged eleven, had to kiss Brad Pitt, who was 29. Her most well-known performances to date have been in The Virgin Suicides, the cult hit Bring It On, and as Mary Jane Watson in Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2.

Dunst won the 2002 Best Actress Silver Ombú at the Mar de Plata Film Festival for her performance as Marion Davies in Peter Bogdanovich's The Cat's Meow.

Dunst made her singing debut in the 2001 film, Get Over It, performing two songs written by Marc Shaiman. She also lent her musical voice to the end credits of The Cat's Meow by singing the old standard, "After You've Gone."

More recently, Dunst has played the role of doomed 18th-century royal, Queen Marie Antoinette. The forthcoming motion picture, titled Marie-Antoinette, is scheduled for release in Autumn 2006. It is the third film directed by Sofia Coppola and is based on British historian Lady Antonia Fraser's biography of Marie-Antoinette.

Filmography

Marie Antoinette (2006) (filming)
Elizabethtown (2005)
Wimbledon (2004)
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Mona Lisa Smile (2003)
Kaena: The Prophecy (2003) (voice)
Levity (2003)
Spider-Man (2002)
The Cat's Meow (2001)
Crazy/Beautiful (2001)
Get Over It (2001)
Deeply (2000)
Bring It On (2000)
Luckytown (2000)
The Crow: Salvation (2000)
All Forgotten (2000)
Dick (1999)
Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)
The Virgin Suicides (1999)
The Devil's Arithmetic (1999)
Fifteen and Pregnant (1998)
The Hairy Bird (1998)
Small Soldiers (1998)
Wag the Dog (1997)
Anastasia (1997) (voice)
Tower of Terror (1997)
True Heart (1997)
Mother Night (1996)
Jumanji (1995)
Little Women (1994)
Interview with the Vampire (1994)
Greedy (1994)
High Strung (1994)
The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) (voice in 1998 English dubbed version)
New York Stories (1989)

Personal Life

Kirsten's parents separated several years ago. Her father, Klaus Dunst, a German medical services executive, stayed in New Jersey. Her mother, Inez Dunst, a Swedish former art gallery owner, moved to California. Kirsten has a younger brother, Christian, born in 1986.

Kirsten graduated from Notre Dame High School, a private Catholic high school in Los Angeles, in 2000. She is currently working on her own production company with her mother, called Wooden Spoon Productions.

Kirsten started dating fellow actor Jake Gyllenhaal in September 2002, after meeting him through his sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal (her co-star in Mona Lisa Smile.) They broke up in July 2004, but there are rumours that they're back together.