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.
