Kirsten Dunst has opened up about her first experience of the dark side of Hollywood.
Dunst shot onto the movie scene in 1989 after landing a small role in New York Stories at the young age of six.
By the early 00s, the actress had starred in films like Jumanji, Drop Dead Gorgeous, and Interview with the Vampire, having working alongside people like Robin Williams and Tom Cruise.
While being a child star will have undeniably come with its hardships, Dunst didn't have her first negative experience in the film industry until she was 16 after a director acted 'totally improper' towards her.
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"A male director had me in his office, by myself, and was asking me about this movie he wanted me for, and then, completely out of the blue, asked me this inappropriate question,” she recalled to The Telegraph ahead of the release of her new movie, Civil War.
"Honestly, I’m not even sure he’s still working any more," Dunst went on without naming the culprit.
"It’s not something I like to reflect on. But I will say what he said was nothing to do with acting. And it wasn’t that what he said was just ‘a bit off’.
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"It was totally improper. And I remember sitting there and knowing that something was wrong, but with no idea what I should do."
A then-teenage Dunst informed her mother Inez Rupprecht of the inappropriate interaction. She then pulled Dunst from the project as a result and informed them that she wouldn't be starring in the film.
"That was the end of it," Dunst went on.
Dunst's new film Civil War comes after the 41-year-old took a two-year hiatus from acting. The break wasn't necessarily by choice, however.
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Admitting the time away from acting was 'hard', Dunst told Marie Claire: "Every role I was being offered was the sad mom."
"To be honest, that's been hard for me because I need to feed myself," the SAG award-winner went on.
"The hardest thing is being a mom and... not feeling like, I have nothing for myself. That's every mother - not just me."
She also noted that there are 'less good roles' available for women in her age bracket.
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Her sentiments are backed by a 2020 study that found no women over 50 were cast in leading roles in 2019's top films.
Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV, News
Niamh Shackleton