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Quick Facts
- NAME: Kirsten Dunst
- OCCUPATION: Film Actress
- BIRTH DATE: April 30, 1982 (Age: 31)
- EDUCATION: Notre Dame
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Point Pleasant, New Jersey
- ZODIAC SIGN: Taurus
Best Known For
Once a child star, actress Kirsten Dunst has garnered over 40 film and television credits and continues to command hefty sums for acting appearances.
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Play NowKirsten Dunst. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 04:40, May 24, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/kirsten-dunst-9542473.
Kirsten Dunst. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/kirsten-dunst-9542473 [Accessed 24 May 2013].
"Kirsten Dunst." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 24 2013, 04:40 http://www.biography.com/people/kirsten-dunst-9542473.
"Kirsten Dunst," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/kirsten-dunst-9542473 [accessed May 24, 2013].
"Kirsten Dunst," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/kirsten-dunst-9542473 (accessed May 24, 2013).
Kirsten Dunst [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 24] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/kirsten-dunst-9542473.
Kirsten Dunst, http://www.biography.com/people/kirsten-dunst-9542473 (last visited May 24, 2013).
Kirsten Dunst. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/kirsten-dunst-9542473. Accessed May 24, 2013.
Synopsis
Kirsten Dunst was born on April 30, 1982, in Point Pleasant, New Jersey. In 1989, she made her film debut in New York Stories. This was soon followed by a role in The Bonfire of the Vanities. She got her big break in Interview with the Vampire. She went on to appear in a string of major Hollywood productions, successfully transitioning to adult roles. In 2002, she starred in Spider-Man.
Early Career
Actress Kirsten Dunst was born on April 30, 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.
Breakthrough Role
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 (1994). 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.
Career Highlights
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.
'Spider-Man'
In 2002, Dunst brought the much-loved comic book character Mary Jane "M. J." Watson to the big screen in the blockbuster film Spider-Man. With Tobey Maguire in the title role, it showed the transformation of Peter Parker into the legendary web-slinger. The film marked her first foray in action films. To play Peter Parker’s spunky love interest, Dunst had to dye her blonde hair to red and handle being put in great peril. The duo reprised their parts for the sequel Spider-Man 2 in 2004, in which the superhero battled Doc Ock (Alfred Molina). In the latest installment, Spider-Man 3, Peter Parker must wrestle with internal forces as well as villains to keep from destroying his relationships with those he cares for, including his great love M.J.
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Child Stars
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