Kirsten Caroline Dunst (born April 30, 1982 in Point Pleasant, New Jersey) is an American actress of German and Swedish descent. Her name is pronounced "KEER-sten," not "KUR-sten".
Kirsten Dunst: Career
Dunst began her acting career at the age of three, appearing 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 where Dana Carvey acted as President Bush. Years later, Dunst guest hosted on Saturday Night Live as an adult.
Dunst later made the transition to the big screen in her first film appearance, New York Stories, in 1989. Soon after, she landed a small part playing the daughter of Tom Hanks' 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, in which she performed 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 and is currently in Post-production. It is the third film directed by Sofia Coppola and is based on British historian Lady Antonia Fraser's biography of Marie-Antoinette.
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