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This article was originally published on December 1, 2021.
It has been updated to includeCivil War.
Has any child star of the last 40 years fared better than Kirsten Dunst?
And yet, somehow, the world takes Kirsten Dunst for granted.
I feel like a lot of things I do people like later,Dunst said in 2019.
Ive never been recognized in my own industry.
Ive never been nominated for anything.
Maybe like twice for a Golden Globe when I was little and one forFargo.
Maybe they just think Im the girl fromBring It On.
That finally changed when she received her first Oscar nod for 2021sThe Power of the Dog.
(Shes my Gena Rowlands, and I mean it,Campion said.)
He also appears in a terrifying scene inCivil War.
Below, we rank 34 of Dunsts performances.
Heres to many more years of Kirsten Dunst.
Like the movie surrounding it, her role is an insult, neither interesting nor humorous.
She and Pegg are so mismatched that its exasperating to see them wind up together at the end.
Not even Dunst could elevate this slapdash slice of man-child drivel.
Its a movie in search of ideas, with performances bereft of substance.
32.Elizabethtown(2005)
IsElizabethtownthe most annoying romantic comedy ever made?
ButWoodshockworks too hard to adopt the poetic wooziness of Terrence Malick and forgets to find a cohesive narrative.
As a result, Dunst is stranded in the movies pretty but overly indulgent wilderness.
Dunst pops up as his girlfriend, going from beatific to indignant as Dean becomes more and more unreliable.
25.Jumanji(1995)
Dunst survived a major feat inJumanji: acting opposite nothing, a.k.a.
hordes of CGI animals darting to and fro.
That Dunst remains believable throughout proves what a talented performer she is.
Never once does she seem uneasy or get lost in some sort of movie-orphan cliche.
In theory, its herNotting Hill.
In practice, its a nice enough movie that suffers from a blandness so pervasive it almost feels intentional.
Bettany gets the more dynamic character, but Dunsts sweet-and-sassy dichotomy helps her weather the storys one-dimensionality.
She does what all good supporting actors should do: support the story.
In it, you might see some of the comedic cheer shed soon bring toDrop Dead GorgeousandBring It On.
It isveryof its time, which isnt entirely a bad thing.
Dunst gives an intoxicating performance, whirling through the material with a vibrancy that courses through her body.
This is the movie that prompted New YorkTimescritic A.O.
Scottto sayshe has an emotional range that few actresses of her age can match.
But Dunst wouldnt squander such a well-known character.
is the first time Dunst seems to feel a real ownership over her material.
Shed spend the next few years perfecting the sassy effervescence she shows here.
Yes, its hokey and populated with characters who are little more than archetypes.
Despite its Spielbergian influences, the movie wasnt much of a hit.
Dunst disciples might want to check it out.
For a certain generation, her vibrant, mischievous Amy March is canon.
15.All Good Things(2010)
All Good Thingshas a lot of baggage.
Dunst isespecially great, desperate for her partners love while growing steadily unmoored by his erratic behavior.
She is stuck in an impossible position, one that Dunst explores with frightening gravity.
Even when shes silent, which is often, her performance is never vacant.
Like most teenagers, Lux is a contradiction, at once cool and anxious.
Whatever faith she had in humanity is long gone.
A winsome slice ofrevisionist history, the movie should have been a gigantic hit.
Frankly, it makes more sense that way.
When things go awry, its Edwina who suffers the most acutely.
Like the movie surrounding her, Dunst remains deliciously understated.
Lets be clear: SheoutactsTom Cruise and Brad Pitt by several miles inInterview With the Vampire.
She is precocious but never falls prey to pesky child-star cheekiness.
Hers is an achingly humane take on a character who could have been a mere rig.
And so she ratchets everything up a notch to heighten the affectionate parody at its core.
(Her extremity also helps the storys racial politics land more profoundly.)
Torrance and her friends take cheerleadingveryseriously, which in turn makes them all seem a bit silly.
Yet shes never a cartoon, ensuring the shows indictment of the so-called American dream registers loud and clear.
Showtimeblamed COVID-19for the shows cancellation, but guess what?
Florida never cared about the pandemic to begin with.
Dunst isnt known for operatic meltdowns, which makes this one all the more powerful.
Jane Campionsmasterly psychodramais a story of repression, something Rose knows a thing or two about.
This movie andMelancholiacame out back-to-back, letting Dunst trade her signature ebullience for something much rawer.
She never winks at the material, employing a high pitch and exaggerated grin to signal Ambers absurd earnestness.
This was a delicious performance in a bold movie that deserves its contemporary redemption.
3.Melancholia(2011)
The earth is evil.
We dont need to grieve for it.
Nobody will miss it.
Dunst delivers this line as though it were an unyielding truth.
And you know what?
We kind of believe her.
To say that Lars von Triers haunting psychodrama casts Dunst against bang out would be an understatement.
Its arguably her funniest performance, and maybe her meatiest, too.
Youfeelher investment in the role, the way her blue eyes shine when Peggy puts on a brave face.
At the exact moment TV was overtaking film as pop cultures dominant medium, Dunst submitted defining work.
Plus, its where she met her current partner, Jesse Plemons, who played herFargohusband.
Dunsts tender smile fades.
In that moment, her youth is stripped from her, supplanted by palace protocol and prying busybodies.
Like most of Sofia Coppolas movies,MarieAntoinetteisnt heavy on dialogue.
Coppola trusts that the characters inner emotional journey will epitomize her doomed stint at Versailles, and shes right.
The film is a masterpiece, and Dunst its North Star.
No one does it like her.
