Kirsten Dunst

Biography of Kirsten Dunst

Kirsten Caroline Dunst was born on April 30, 1982 in Point Pleasant, New Jersey. She is an American-German actress.

Her father Klaus Dunst is a German who has been living in the USA for decades. Her mother Inez Rupprecht is an American of Swedish-German descent. Her paternal grandfather lives as a widower in Hamburg. She grew up with a younger brother in Los Angeles, where she attended a Catholic school.

In 1989 she played her first small role in Woody Allen's New York Stories. She then starred as Tom Hanks' daughter in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990).

Her breakthrough came in 1994 as the child vampire Claudia in the bestselling Anne Rice film Interview with a Vampire alongside Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. For the role Dunst prevailed against 5000 competitors. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance and won the award for Best Breakthrough Performance at the MTV Movie Awards. She received critical acclaim again that same year for the best-selling film adaptation of Little Women, in which she starred alongside Winona Ryder and Claire Danes.

In 1995, she starred in the fantasy film Jumanji alongside Robin Williams. In 1996, she had a recurring role in the third season of the hospital drama Emergency Room. In 1997, she had a supporting role in the political satire Wag the Dog with Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman. In 1999 she starred in Sofia Coppola's drama The Virgin Suicides; she received very positive reviews for her performance. A year later, she starred in the comedy Girls United, which became a commercial success.

Dunst earned recognition in 2002 for the role of Mary Jane "MJ" Watson in Sam Raimi's comic book adaptation of Spider-Man, opposite Tobey Maguire. In 2003, she starred alongside Julia Roberts and Julia Stiles in the tragic comedy Mona Lisa's Smile. In 2004, she starred opposite Paul Bettany in the sports drama Wimbledon. She also had a role in the romantic drama Forget Me Not! with Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. In the same year she embodied the role of Mary Jane again in Spider-Man 2 and she celebrated another great success with it.

In 2005 she starred in Elizabethtown alongside Orlando Bloom. In 2007, she starred in Spider-Man 3, her highest-grossing film to date. After shooting the film New York for Beginners (2008).

In 2010, she starred in the romantic drama All Good Things, starring alongside Ryan Gosling, for the first time after being treated for depression. In addition, she shot the drama Melancholia in 2010, directed by Lars von Trier. In 2011, she won the Best Actor Award at the 64th Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the European Film Awards for her performance as a melancholic, depressed bride.

In 2012, she starred alongside Sam Riley and Kristen Stewart in On the Road, the role of Camille. She also starred in Leslye Headland's comedy Bachelorette. In 2015, she landed a starring role in the second season of the television series Fargo. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie and an Emmy for Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie for her performance.

In late August 2019, Dunst was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Dunst took on the role of Rose in Jane Campion's 2021 literary adaptation The Power of the Dog. She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in 2022.

Dunst dated fellow actor Jake Gyllenhaal from 2002 to 2004, then she dated Razorlight singer Johnny Borrell for seven months in 2007 and her On the Road co-star Garrett Hedlund from 2012 to 2016. Since 2016, she has been in a relationship with actor Jesse Plemons, to whom she is engaged. The two have two sons (* 2018 and * 2021).

Dunst received medical treatment for depression in the spring of 2008 and resumed her film career in 2010. Since September 2011, Dunst has held both US and German citizenship.