Kirsten Caroline Dunst is a renowned American actress of German citizenship, born on April 30, 1982, in Point Pleasant, New Jersey. Her parents, Inez Rupprecht, an art gallery owner, and Klaus Dunst, a medical services executive, instilled in her a strong foundation for her future endeavors.
At the tender age of three, Kirsten began her career in the entertainment industry by modeling and appearing in commercials. Her big-screen debut came at the age of six with an uncredited role in Woody Allen's 1989 film, New York Stories. She received her first film credit in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) and went on to make her breakthrough performance in Interview with the Vampire (1994) alongside Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise.
Kirsten's performance in Interview with the Vampire earned her a Golden Globe nomination, the MTV Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, and the Saturn Award for Best Young Actress. In 1995, she was named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People. Over the next few years, she made a string of hit movies including Little Women (1994),Jumanji (1995),and Small Soldiers (1998).
In 2000, Kirsten received rave reviews for her role as "Lux Lisbon" in Sofia Coppola's independent film, The Virgin Suicides (1999),and proved her status as a leading actress in the comedy hit, Bring It On (2000). She also graduated from Notre Dame High School in Los Angeles in June of that year.
Kirsten's success continued with her role as Mary Jane Watson in Spider-Man (2002),which she reprised in Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007). She went on to land roles in such films as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004),the romantic comedy Wimbledon (2004),and Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown (2005).
Kirsten also played the title character in Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (2006) and won the Best Actress Award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival for her performance as Justine in Lars von Trier's Melancholia (2011). In 2012, she appeared in Walter Salles' film adaptation of On the Road (2012) and the independent comedy Bachelorette (2012).
Throughout her career, Kirsten has been involved in various charity initiatives, including designing a necklace to raise funds for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and supporting various cancer charities.
