Kirsten Dunst

Dunst began a relationship with actor Jesse Plemons after they worked together on the second season of Fargo in 2015. They became engaged in 2017 and married in July 2022. They have two sons, Ennis, born in May 2018, and James, born in May 2021.

In 2008, Dunst received treatment for depression at the Cirque Lodge treatment center in Utah. She later discussed the experience publicly to distinguish her mental-health struggles from rumors of substance abuse and encouraged people experiencing depression to seek help.

Dunst began modeling and appearing in television commercials at age three. At age six, she had an uncredited role in Woody Allen's New York Stories (1989), followed by her first credited film role as the daughter of Tom Hanks's character in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990). Her family moved to Los Angeles in 1993 after her parents separated.

Her breakthrough came at age 12 with Interview with the Vampire (1994), in which she played Claudia, a child vampire raised by characters played by Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. The performance earned her a Golden Globe nomination, the MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, and the Saturn Award for Best Young Actress. She followed it with roles in Little Women, Jumanji, Wag the Dog, Small Soldiers, and the television drama ER.

In 1999, Dunst played Lux Lisbon in Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides, beginning a long-running professional association between the actress and director. Dunst and Coppola later reunited for Marie Antoinette (2006) and The Beguiled (2017). Dunst also appeared in the teen comedies Drop Dead Gorgeous and Dick before starring as cheerleading captain Torrance Shipman in Bring It On (2000).

Dunst became a major international star as Mary Jane Watson, Peter Parker's love interest, in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002). She reprised the role in Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007), while also appearing in Mona Lisa Smile, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Wimbledon, Elizabethtown, and Coppola's Marie Antoinette. Her other notable work from the period included Crazy/Beautiful and The Cat's Meow.

Dunst's performance as Justine, a woman experiencing severe depression as an apocalyptic event approaches, in Lars von Trier's Melancholia (2011) brought her the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival. She continued with films such as Bachelorette, On the Road, The Two Faces of January, Midnight Special, and Hidden Figures.

In 2015, Dunst played hairdresser Peggy Blumquist in the second season of the FX crime anthology series Fargo, opposite Jesse Plemons. The role earned her Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy Award nominations. She later starred in the Showtime series On Becoming a God in Central Florida, receiving another Golden Globe nomination, and appeared in The Beguiled and Woodshock.

Dunst and Plemons both received Academy Award nominations for The Power of the Dog (2021), in which they played a married couple. They also appeared together in Civil War (2024), with Dunst portraying war photojournalist Lee Smith. The film marked her return to leading film roles after a break from acting and was followed by her role in Roofman (2025).

Dunst made her singing debut in the 2001 comedy Get Over It, performing two songs written by Marc Shaiman. She later recorded the jazz standard "After You've Gone" for The Cat's Meow and sang as Mary Jane Watson in Spider-Man 3.

She contributed vocals to Jason Schwartzman's 2007 solo album Nighttiming and appeared in music videos by Savage Garden, the Beastie Boys, and R.E.M. Dunst also directed and co-wrote the short film Bastard, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2010. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019.