Life Lessons from Kirsten Dunst

Welcome to Life Lessons. This week, in celebration of her long-overdue Oscar nomination, we look back at Kirsten Dunst’s  June 2000 cover story, which features photographs of the then-17-year-old actor surrounded by her many cats, shot by the legendary photographer Bruce Weber. Dunst was a senior in high school at the time, struggling to balance math homework with press tours for her turn in Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides. If Dunst’s role as Lux Lisbon solidified her place as a whimsical mainstay of y2k independent film, her portrayal of the troubled widow Rose Gordon in Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog cemented her status as a Hollywood heavyweight. The film, which features a tender romance between Dunst and her long-time partner Jesse Plemons, has racked up 12 Oscar nominations—including one for each lovebird. So sit back, grab a pen—you just might learn a thing or two. 

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“A lot of people my age who are working right now have never acted; they get a show and suddenly they’re making millions. It’s always those people who get it fast who have the most trouble staying grounded and being themselves.”

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“You really can’t explain the things you do. I can’t, anyway.”

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“I don’t have a boyfriend; I never do. It’s either meet the people on set…but even that’s weird.” 

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“There is a fine line you have to walk to get sympathy from someone.”

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“When a relationship happens for me, it will happen.”

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“What concerns me with sex scenes—with directors–is how they’re going to shoot them. And the way Sofia Coppola did it was very abstract, so I was really comfortable.”

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“I love certain actors but sometimes they say the stupidest things about technique. I don’t want to say something stupid.”

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“I did have this drive inside of me. I knew what I wanted to do, so I just kept at it.”