It's a well-documented stereotype that actors who become stars as children and teens often flame out too early, get involved in a wild Hollywood lifestyle, or simply never outgrow their personas as the iconic child characters with which we associate them. It's not often that a popular child actor doesn't just escape one of these fates, but continues to grow and develop their career with increasingly empathetic roles that are authentic for them as they age. Kirsten Dunst is one of those few. You're more likely to associate her with more recent roles like those she played in On Becoming a God in Central Florida or The Beguiled, than you are with her roles in Jumanji or Spider-Man.
She's continued to develop her career and persona and has only gotten better with age. In fact, this year has been one of her busiest yet, and now with mothering and family duties to add to her acting schedule, her life is understandably, well, kinda crazy. After quite the whirlwind year, here's what the actress's life is like these days.
8 She's Happily Engaged
Kirsten Dunst has been engaged to actor Jesse Plemons since 2017. They met two years earlier when they were cast as husband and wife in the second season of Fargo. Soon, they had fallen in love and started a relationship. Now that they're engaged, they are now on track to become offscreen husband and wife as well!
7 She's Mom To A Toddler And Newborn
The couple's first son was born in spring of 2018, and they just welcomed their second son a few months ago. The baby is 18 pounds at just four months old, which Dunst laughed about in an interview. "He’s an angel, but he’s a hungry angel. And a heavy angel," she joked. Her older son, Ennis, is a handful at 3 years old, which certainly means the actress is kept pretty busy.
6 She And Her Fiancé Are Often Parenting Solo
For the last few months, Jesse Plemons has been away from home filming Killers of the Flower Moon, a Martin Scorsese drama based on the book by David Grann, so Kirsten Dunst was mostly parenting alone, which can't be easy with a toddler and a newborn. "I haven’t slept through the night in four months," she said.
5 She's Got A New Film Premiering
Kirsten Dunst is currently doing press and premieres for director Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog, which she stars in opposite Benedict Cumberbatch as well as her fiancé Jesse Plemons. It's a film based on the 1967 novel by Thomas Savage, and takes place on a ranch in Montana in the 1920s, where Benedict Cumberbatch plays a tyrannical rancher who becomes angry when his brother (Plemons) brings home a new wife (Kirsten Dunst). This will be the couple's second go at playing a couple onscreen. Kirsten Dunst is hopeful this film will bring in an Oscar, and she doesn't just want that for herself: "It would mean so much to my family, too. It would be so fun to celebrate, because I know my family and friends have been waiting for a long time."
4 Naturally, She's Exhausted
Taking turns parenting means taking turns at not sleeping for months and weeks at a time. Moreover, Dunst's family will soon turn around and head down to Texas, where Plemons will be shooting a limited series for HBO. The travel is a whole new set of factors to consider, and she has spoken about the stress levels it brings to be traveling with the whole family.
3 Her Persona Has Shifted
While we got to know her for child and teen roles in films such as Jumanji and The Virgin Suicides, Kirsten Dunst's career has shifted, dovetailing perfectly into more desperate and empathetic characters. She solidified her place as more than just a teen star with films like Marie Antoinette, Melancholia, and The Beguiled. Now, we associate her more with roles like those in Fargo and On Becoming a God in Central Florida. Speaking about her approach to these characters, she explains that she likes to makes sure they are always operating from a place of authentic disappointment and despair.
2 A New Theme Park Is Based On One Of Her Films
A Jumanji-themed theme park will open in as part of the Italian Gardaland Resort in Ronchi, Italy. It will be named "Jumanji - The Adventure." We haven't yet heard whether Kirsten Dunst will be involved in its opening weeks, but it'd be a marketing opportunity that would be silly to miss!
1 She's Considering A 'Bring It On' Reboot
Kirsten Dunst's Bring It On costar Gabrielle Union recently shared that a reboot of the hit 2000 movie could be in the works. She'd had meetings with Kirsten as well as the director and writer, and they all agreed that in order for a reboot to happen, it would have to be written by a black person and center on Isis, Gabrielle Union's character, so that she could be presented in a more human, holistic way, rather than just as a foil to the white cheerleading team.