Kirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress who started out as a child artist at the age of six before emerging as one of the leading ladies of Hollywood. In a career spanning close to three decades, Dunst has appeared in over 70 movies, the most notable among which are Interview with the Vampire (1994), Jumanji (1995), Wag the Dog (1997), The Virgin Suicides (1999), Elizabethtown (2005), Mary Antoinette (2006), the Spiderman trilogy (2002-`07) directed by Sam Raimi and Melancholia (2011). For her performance in Melancholia, she won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival that year.

Besides guest-starring in TV shows like ER, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Portlandia, Dunst has also appeared in main roles in The Devil`s Arithmetic and Fargo, the latter of which won her a Critics` Choice Television Award for Best Actress in 2015. Known for her political activism and charity ventures, the actress was in the news in 2008 when she revealed her prolonged battle with depression in her mid twenties.

Early Life
Kirsten Dunst was born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, to Klaus Dunst, a medical services executive, and Inez Dunst, a flight attendant turned art gallery owner. Her father is German, while her mother is an American of Nordic descent. She has a younger brother named Christian Dunst. Prior to her film debut at the age of six, Dunst had already appeared in a few television commercials, having started modelling when she was just three. Before moving to California following the separation of her parent, she attended the Ranney School in New Jersey. Subsequently, she attended the Laurel Hall School and the Notre Dame High School in California.

Personal Life
In 2008, Dunst checked into the Cirque Lodge, a treatment facility that specialises in treating drug and alcohol addiction. This led to widespread speculations about the actress` addiction issues, but the rumours were dispelled when she went public about her prolonged battle with depression.

Dunst was in a three-year relationship with actor Jake Gyllenhal which ended in 2004. In 2011, she started dating her On the Road co-starGarrett Hedlund, but the couple broke up in 2016. She is currently in a relationship with her Fargo co-star Jesse Plemons.

Movie Career
Dunst made her feature film debut at the age of six with a minor role in the anthology film New York Stories (1989), where she played Mia Farrow`s daughter in the segment Oedipus Wrecks, directed by Woody Allen. She then starred alongsideTom Hanks and Bruce Willis in the comedy drama The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990). Dunst`s breakthrough role came in 1994, when she was cast oppositeBrad Pitt and Tom Cruise in the horror drama Interview with the Vampire. The movie, which was based on the 1976 novel of the same name, was a critical and commercial success, and Dunst earned numerous accolades for her portrayal of Claudia. In the same year, she appeared in the family drama Little Women, alongside Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder and Christian Bale.

In 1995, the actress played a key role in the Robin Williams starrer Jumanji, a fantasy adventure which centred around two kids whose discovery of a magical board game has unexpected consequences. The film was a commercial juggernaut, earning over $260 million at the box office. For her performance in the film, she was nominated for a Saturn Award and won the Young Artist Award for Best Young Leading Actress. A voice role in the animated musical Anastasia preceded the critically acclaimed black comedy Wag the Dog in 1997, both of which did well at the box office.

In 1999, Dunst appeared in the black comedy Drop Dead Gorgeous and Sofia Coppola`s acclaimed drama, The Virgin Suicides. Teen comedies Bring it On (2000) and Get Over It (2001), were the actress` notable releases in the following years. She then appeared in Peter Bogdanovich`s period drama The Cat`s Meow (2001), where she portrayed actress Marion Davies. The performance won her a Best Actress Award at the Mar del Plata International Film Festival that year. Dunst`s next big break came in 2002, when she appeared as Mary Jane Watson in the first of Sam Raimi`s Spiderman trilogy. The movie, which opened to rave reviews, was a blockbuster, raking over $820 million at the box office. It remains the actress` biggest mainstream success till date. In the following year, she starred alongside Julia Roberts, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Julia Stiles in the period drama Mona Lisa Smile, which dealt with a free-thinking art teacher`s relentless quest to instil a sense of personal freedom in her students. Despite the mixed critical reception, the movie was a box office hit.

Dunst continued to enjoy critical and commercial success in 2004 with the romantic sci-fi comedy-drama Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Spider-Man 2 and the romantic comedy Wimbledon. While Spider-Man 2 earned over $780 million at the box office, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind earned universal critical acclaim upon its release and went on to become an instant classic. This was followed by the romantic comedy-drama Elizabethtown (2005) and the historical drama Marie Antoinette (2006), where she played the titular roles. Both the movies enjoyed moderate success at the box office while Dunst earned praise for her portrayals.

In 2007, the actress reprised her role as Mary Jane Watson for one last time in Spider-Man 3. Despite the mixed critical reception, the movie went on to become the biggest blockbuster in the franchise, earning over $890 million at the box office. Her next two outings, however, were disappointments. The comedy How to Lose Friends and Alienate People (2008) and the crime drama All Good Things (2010), were met with mixed to negative reviews and lukewarm reception at the box office. Dunst staged a strong comeback in 2011 with Lars von Trier`s Melancholia, a psychological drama which was a metaphorical exploration of depression. Both the movie and Dunst`s performance earned rave reviews, with some critics hailing it as a masterpiece. For her portrayal of the protagonist Justine, Dunst won numerous awards, including a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, London Film Critics Circle Award for Actress of the Year, National Society of Film Critics Award and a Saturn Award for Best Actress.

The romantic comedy Bachelorette was Dunst`s first release in 2012, where she starred alongside Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan and Rebel Wilson. However, the movie failed to make an impression despite featuring an ensemble cast. The adventure drama On the Road (based on Jack Kerouac`s novel of the same name) and the romantic fantasy Upside Down, which were released in the same year, also failed to woo the critics and the audience alike. The actress then appeared alongside Viggo Mortensen and Oscar Isaac in the crime thriller The Two Faces of January (2014), which was well-received by the critics and currently holds an 82% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

In 2016, the actress co-starred in the sci-fi drama Midnight Special alongside Michael Shannon and Joel Edgerton. The movie opened to positive reviews, and currently holds an 83% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In the same year, she appeared in a supporting role in the biographical drama Hidden Figures, which recounted the untold story of African-American women mathematicians who played vital roles in the early days of the US space program. The movie opened to universal critical acclaim and raked close to $150 million at the box office besides receiving three Academy Award nominations. Sofia Coppola`s The Beguiled, which is a remake of the 1971 movie of the same name, is one among Dunst`s most-anticipated projects in 2017. She will be making her screenwriting and directing debut in 2018 with The Bell Jar, which is based on Sylvia Plath`s novel of the same name.

Television Career
Dunst made her television debut at the age of 10, with the TV movie Darkness Before Dawn. Besides guest-starring in shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation and ER, she has also starred in TV movies like Tower of Terror and Fifteen and Pregnant. In 2002, she co-h