"Kirsten Dunst"

Name: Kirsten Dunst
Date of Birth: April 30, 1982
Place of Birth: Point Pleasant, New Jersey

Mini-bio: One of the leading actors of her generation, Kirsten Dunst made her name in teen films without succumbing to entrapment in the teen film ghetto. Skinny, blonde, and possessing a charmingly crooked Pepsodent smile, she has repeatedly demonstrated her talent and charisma in projects ranging from kiddie comedies to high school romances to towering summer blockbusters.Born in Point Pleasant, NJ, on April 30, 1982, Dunst first appeared in front of a camera at the age of three, when she became a Ford model and commercial actor. She continued to model and do commercials until 1989, when she made her film debut in Woody Allen's New York Stories. Her uncredited role led to a part as Tom Hanks' daughter in the infamously troubled 1990 adaptation of Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities.Three years later, Dunst got her first big break when director Neil Jordan chose her over 5,000 hopefuls for the role of Claudia, the child vampire in his 1994 adaptation of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire. Dunst made a big impact on audiences and critics alike with her portrayal of a woman trapped eternally in the body of an 11-year-old, kissing co-star Brad Pitt, and gorging herself on human and animal blood. That same year, Dunst also appeared alongside Winona Ryder and Susan Sarandon in Gillian Armstrong's adaptation of Little Women; the combined success of these two movies propelled Dunst to the top of the child-actor hierarchy, in terms of both bankability and exposure.Dunst followed up with a lead role in the Robin Williams action-fantasy Jumanji (1995), and lent her voice to a few animated features, including Disney's Anastasia (1997). She also had a brief but memorable turn as a refugee from a war-torn country in Barry Levinson's highly praised satire Wag the Dog (1997).

1999 marked a turning point in Dunst's career, as she began appearing in films that cast her as a young woman instead of a precocious child. She starred as a small-town beauty queen contestant in the satirical comedy Drop Dead Gorgeous and as one of two teenage girls (the other played by Michelle Williams) who unwittingly uncover the Watergate scandal in Dick, another satirical comedy. Dunst further lived up to her title as one of Teen People's 21 Hottest Stars Under 21 with her leading role as the sexually rebellious Lux in Sofia Coppola's acclaimed adaptation of Jeffrey Eugenides' novel The Virgin Suicides (1999). Her work in the film proved to be a critical breakthrough for Dunst, whom critics praised for her portrayal of the conflicted, headstrong character.Dunst subsequently did her bit for the high school comedy-romance genre, starring as a cheerleader in Bring It On (2000), and as another teen queen in Get Over It (2001); she also forsake makeup and a hairdresser for her role as the archetypal poor little rich girl in crazy/beautiful (2001), a teen romantic drama.Subsequently cast as the actress Marion Davies in Peter Bogdanovich's The Cat's Meow, Dunst got her first shot at playing a grown woman. She garnered praise for her work in the period drama, but any notice she received was quickly eclipsed by the maelstrom of publicity surrounding her starring role as Mary Jane Watson, true love of Peter Parker in Sam Raimi's big-budget adaptation of Spider-Man. Playing opposite Tobey Maguire as the web-spinning superhero, Dunst spent a lot of the movie running around as a damsel in distress, but there was nothing distressing about the 110-million dollars the film grossed in its opening weekend, breaking new box-office records and catapulting both Dunst and Maguire into the rarefied realm of full-fledged movie stars.Even though Spider-Man gave her a great deal of box-office clout, she continues to mix more offbeat films with more box-office friendly material. She acted opposite Billy Bob Thornton in the little-seen drama Levity in the same year she accepted a role as one of the three young students inspired by art teacher Julia Roberts in Mona Lisa Smile. A very busy 2004 found Dunst appearing in the Spider-Man sequel, a film that was universally regarded as superior to its predecessor, and taking a small but key supporting part in the superb Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. These two roles were so well received that the non-event of her starring in the romantic comedy Wimbledon barely registered. She was the only person to escape unscathed from Elizabethtown, before reteaming with Sofia Coppola to star as Marie Antoinette. Again, her performance was well received despite the film being less than popular, but she had a bankable success hiding in her toolbelt with the 2007 release of Spider-Man 3. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi

Dunst has reportedly been involved in short-term relationships with actor Jake Gyllenhaal, and musician Johnny Borrell of Razorlight.

Dunst was treated for depression in early 2008 at the Cirque Lodge treatment center in Utah. She explained that she had been feeling low in the six months before her admission. In late March she checked out of the treatment center and began filming All Good Things. In May she went public with this information in order to highlight the struggle faced by so many other successful women and to dispel false rumors that had been very painful for her friends and family. She has also gone public detailing her "sedate lifestyle" and the fact that she has a single apartment in New York with one bedroom.

In 2008, Dunst starred alongside Simon Pegg in How to Lose Friends and Alienate People an adaptation of the memoir of the same name by former Vanity Fair contributing editor Toby Young. After she signed on to the film, she revealed that she had joined the project because Pegg was scheduled to appear in it.

Since 2010, Dunst's work has included directing the short film Bastard which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2010, and was later featured at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. Her next role was in a leading role opposite Ryan Gosling in the romantic drama All Good Things (2010) in which she portrays a woman from a run-down neighborhood who goes missing. The feature received reasonable reviews, and earned $640 thousand worldwide. Dunst stars in Lars von Trier's science-fiction film Melancholia as a depressed woman at the end of the world. The film, which also stars Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland and Charlotte Rampling premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. Dunst won the Best Actress Award award for her performance.

Dunst has signed to appear in Sweet Relief as peace activist Marla Ruzicka, a U.S. relief worker killed by a suicide bomb in Baghdad. She has expressed interest in playing the role of Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry in Michel Gondry's upcoming biographical film about the band. Dunst is due to appear in Juan Diego Solanas' science fiction-romance film Upside Down co-starring Jim Sturgess. Dunst has also recently filmed the short film The Second Bakery Attack with Brian Geraghty.

Reports have also stated that she will join Kristen Stewart, Sam Riley, and Garrett Hedlund in the upcoming feature, On the Road. She will make a cameo appearance in the upcoming short feature Fight for Your Right Revisited. It premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. As of September 2011, Dunst finished filming the independent comedy, Bachelorette, produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay.Reports have stated that she will join Clive Owen and Orlando Bloom in the international thriller titled 'Cities'. Filming will begin in Spring of 2012.