Kirsten Dunst Spider-Man 3 Interview

Thursday, 20 June 2013
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Kirsten Dunst Spider-Man 3 Interview

DUNST DENIES THAT SPIDEY 3 IS THE END.

by Paul Fischer.

On an atypically cold and rainy Los Angeles morning, Kirsten Dunst arrives for our interview wearing a sheer, thin blouse, admitting that its too cold to be wandering from room to room talking about the third instalment to the franchise that cemented her position as a bona fide Hollywood star.

While in previous interviews she has always maintained that a third Spider-Man would be her last, now she remains more open to doing a fourth, agreeing with Sam Raimi who has now said he would another only with Toby Maguire and Kirsten Dunst on board. "I would only do it with Sam Raimi and Toby Maguire," the actress concedes. "I mean, you cant do that the fans first off, and you cant do that to each other - were a team and weve grown up together now and what makes this movie special is our collaboration together. But we never felt like it was really over anyway so I just think therell probably be a slight reprieve and well come back." Responding to the question that she once insisted that three is enough, Kirsten Dunst says that "I do think its enough - I feel like we ended a chapter with the film definitely. I think that this book is closed and now well approach it in another way that will refresh all of us. I mean we always had really amazing actors who have come in and played our villains. People respect this franchise, they respect Spiderman and they know we want to make the best film every time that we can."

So much has changed since Kirsten Dunst began forming her interpretation of Peter Parkers love, Mary Jane, in the first Spider-Man. With the actress and leading man Tobey Maguire as big stars, greater collaboration between the actors and Sam Raimi was a foregone conclusion, and since the characters have evolved, so has the actors alliance. "Now theyre in a relationship, you now have to deal with real relationship stuff, so I was happy Mary-Jane finally got a gig. Sam obviously was the one who developed the story line, but he was open to our suggestions." The gig Kirsten Dunst refers to was MJs Broadway musical debut, though short-lived. It did give Kirsten Dunst the opportunity to show off her musical abilities, but was grateful she didnt have to shoot it live. "I got to pre-record it so I just lip-synced, but it was fun to do."

What was NOT fun, she says, adamantly, were scenes that required her to be a damsel in distress in a tax, and flung metres above the ground. "Oh I hate doing that crap. I mean basically you spend all day for one shot thats like the blink of an eye in film, which is weeks and weeks of it.. There are like five units going, Sam Raimi isnt even directing you, its like all different people all the time, then they have to have approval, then they run it back and we end up re-shooting it anyway because Sam needs to do it HIS way. So its the most frustrating, arduous process of the whole filming and I just hate acting to nothing. Thats not why Im in this business but I understand that its part of this movie and Im still doing it."

Yet despite these frustrations, she sees the franchise as being more than a simplistic comic book adventure, which helps Kirsten Dunst to identify with the films myriad of complex themes. "This movie is about good and evil. Also religion plays a big part in comics to me and Spiderman, including our visuals, like James [Franco] laying, with the sun rising at the end like a sacrificed lamb or Toby Maguire in the second one being over the people in the tram like hes Jesus," says Kirsten Dunst. "Also its about heroes with Peter like Everyman. I mean, when Spiderman swings through the city its melancholic music, as hes always tortured with his responsibility and hes trying to grow up and be a man with these powers. I could compare it to Superman, in that when he flies through the air its like happy music, but Spiderman is always tortured with his work, so that makes him a human. You dont separate the man from mask, so hes always been in sync for me when it comes to Peter."

For Kirsten Dunst, acting since a child, she seems to have made an effortless transition from childhood actress through to adolescent and adult, but on this she disagrees. "I wouldnt say it was effortless", she concedes, laughingly. "Ive done a few shoddy films in my day, but Ive always had good friends, good family, went to a normal school and Ive always had a good base. But you know, we all go through our crap in our teen years and yet we all have to find ourselves." Which Kirsten Dunst says she has finally readied. "So Im OK, Im good." Kirsten Dunst thrives on making a balance between Hollywoods mainstream and films that are more independent such as her Marie Antoinette. "Though Sam to me is a very independent spirit and motto to me and the most collaborative director Ive ever worked with. To me its like doing a small film, obviously on a large scale but when it comes to the scenes and the relationships its treated like any other movie. Its very important for us. But I look at movies big and small, like the bigger movies take longer to make and you have to do more for them, you know what I mean? And usually its a little bit more coverage too. Those are the elements, like do I want to spend six months of my life doing this film?"

Kirsten Dunst is as selective as she needs to be and is excited about her next film, in which she stars opposite Hot Fuzz star Simon Pegg. "Were doing a comedy based on this book called How to Lose Friends and Alienate People." Kirsten Dunst is looking forward to showing off her more comedic side. "Oh I love comedy. I mean its such a well written script and I was just like Yes! before I finished it. I play Alison, who works at this faux Vanity Fair. He plays a writer from London whos very controversial and comes to the Vanity Fair-type magazine and its all about the goings on in that whole celebrity gossip world and having to kind of reject the writer."

But Kirsten Dunst wants to do more with her life than act. In her spare time, she attends art classes, writes screenplays and will soon write and direct her first short film, as part of the prestigious Glamour Reel project. "Its a ghost story, theyre totally giving me carte blanche, I write my script, I pick everyone who I want to collaborate with and its great." Kirsten Dunst may not necessarily act in the film. "Michelle Williams is a friend of mine. We did a movie together when we were younger and so I wanted her to be my star, she said she would, so now its all about dates and things like that." Kirsten Dunst admits that she hopes to direct a feature at some point. "I am definitely writing one day with that in mind."

Kirsten Dunst, who seems so far more focused during this interview than in so many previous occasions, is not, however focussed on her overall career plans. Asked about the challenges she faces at this point in her career, the actress is non-committal. "I dont deliberate so much. Im very instinctual, so Im not like career planning." For her, choosing a project has less to do with the specifics of a character "but for me its about the story and the director as is the film."

As Kirsten Dunst prepares to take on the challenges of directing, the confident actress says that in making THAT particular transition, she says she will borrow from others actors that eventually directed, for her inspiration. "I mean Roman Polanski was an actor, as was Ron Howard, Clint Eastwood. So you know what you need, you know how to treat your actors, you want them to be happy, you want them to have what they need and then be collaborative and, you know, you always get the best of someone when they feel safe and they feel free to do whatever they want in front of your camera." It appears that whether or not we see her don the red hair in a fourth Spidey, one thing for certain: For Kirsten Dunst, there is well and truly life outside the pages of a comic strip.

Spider-man 3

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, James Franco, James Cromwell, Bryce Dallas Howard, Dylan Baker, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons

This third installment of director Sam Raimi's hugely successful SPIDER-MAN series finds the webbed superhero (Tobey Maguire) and his girlfriend, Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst), embroiled in a love triangle while confronting a new slate of dastardly villains.