The actor discusses working with Channing Tatum in director Derek Cianfrance’s true-crime drama, meeting the real woman she portrays, and her go-to reality show.

Over more than three decades in Hollywood, Kirsten Dunst has been fortunate enough to work with a remarkable roster of filmmakers: Sofia Coppola (Marie Antoinette), Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog), Lars von Trier (Melancholia), Alex Garland (Civil War)—the list goes on. For her latest project, Roofman, she teamed up with Blue Valentine director Derek Cianfrance to take on a true-crime tale centered on a charming fugitive, played by Channing Tatum, who hides out in a Toys “R” Us store. Dunst portrays the real-life woman who falls in love with him, but ultimately must turn him in. “It’s a very emotional movie,” the 43-year-old says. “The last scene Chan and I shot was in a room where families meet when someone’s in prison. You could feel the energy in the room—it felt very real.” For W’s Best Performances Issue, Dunst discusses her approach to the role, the Spider-Man scene her kids can’t get enough of, and the reality show she and her husband, Jesse Plemons, unwind with at home.

How did Roofman come into your life?
The director, Derek Cianfrance, gave me a little ringy-dingy and said, “Will you play this part?” And the answer was yes, immediately. I’m a director-driven gal, for sure. That’s my whole experience. I’m a part of their vision. It’s all in their hands.

Roofman is based on a true story. Did you meet the woman you play?
Yes. I met Leigh Wainscott on the set on a very intense day, working on a scene that actually got cut out. It was me being interviewed by the actual cops who interviewed her. So she was watching me do the scene, which was very surreal for her, but it seemed like it really moved her in a good way.

Kirsten Dunst discussed the progress that has been achieved in the film and TV industry since the #MeToo movement took hold during an on-stage interview on Thursday at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival.

Asked by an audience member whether male actors and directors had got the memo on #MeToo, she fired back: “I think we’ve put a lot of people away. I feel like people definitely can’t get away with what they used to. That’s for sure.”

She added: “Everybody has an eye out now. So I think that it’s a much safer environment for all of us.”

Speaking about her experience when she was a young actress, she said: “I was lucky. I had a good family, a good mother. My mother was always around. Like, I never had anything, you know, negative happen to me like that. I was very protected.”

Dunst preferred to accentuate the positive aspects of the industry in other parts of the discussion, such as when, as an 11 year old, she appeared in “Interview With the Vampire.” She recalled: “I remember everyone treating me like a little princess, that’s for sure. Like I remember it was Christmas time and Tom Cruise put a gorgeous Christmas tree in my dressing room.”

Here are two videos Kirsten did for W Magazine.

>Here’s Kirsten & the main cast & crew at a Q&A event for ‘The Power of the Dog’ on February 26th.

Here are two videos of Kirsten & Jesse at last nights Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Like her director, Jane Campion, Kirsten Dunst liked to take naps during filming breaks on The Power of the Dog. “I’ve become resentful of the morning, which is really bad for an actress, because we wake up so early for work,” Dunst says. “The older I get, the grumpier I am – so that nap at lunch is way more important. I’d rather shove food in my mouth while I’m getting my makeup or hair retouched than waste that time not napping.”

Words of wisdom, I came to realize near the end of our conversation over Zoom, from an actor who’s learned how she prefers to operate in this business. Dunst, 39, was already a consistently working actor before she turned 10 years old. As a child, she stole scenes from the likes of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise (Interview With the Vampire); into adulthood, she served as the muse for one of the aughts’ most exciting breakout directors, Sofia Coppola, and won major awards for everything from art house cinema (Melancholia) to prestige TV (Fargo). Yet 2021 felt like the year her place in the industry crystallized, with her stunning supporting turn in Campion’s Western masterpiece. After decades of great work, The Power of the Dog has earned Dunst her first Oscar nomination.

Is napping what got her here? Surely not – but also, maybe, just a little bit. She brought to Power’s shoot about 50 feature-film credits’ worth of experience – of honing her craft, of navigating sets, of acting before a wide range of directors. “Because I grew up in this industry and had to learn about movies while I was making movies – and what I liked about performances and movies – I had to grow into myself as an actress,” she says. Campion, Dunst continues, creates a unique space for actors to do their best work. Dunst knew what she needed to do, and she had the freedom to do it. Naps included.