“She made me feel beautiful for who I was.”
You also probably know that she’s worked with acclaimed director Sofia Coppola three times now — starting with The Virgin Suicides from 1999.
Paramount Classics / courtesy Everett Collection
Dunst also starred in Coppola’s Marie Antoinette in 2006 as well as her remake of The Beguiled in 2017.
In a retrospective interview shared by Netflix, Dunst opened up about how working with Coppola gave her confidence as others in Hollywood were hurting her own sense of self-image.
Kirsten Dunst’s work has captivated audiences around the world for nearly 30 years. The Power of the Dog star looks back on some of her best films — like Interview with the Vampire, Bring It On, Drop Dead Gorgeous, and more
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While talking about The Virgin Suicides, Dunst said that working with Coppola was “the first time I was seen as, like, a beautiful woman, and have it be a female who gave me that.”
Paramount / courtesy Everett Collection
“It was very empowering for me at that age in terms of the way I felt about myself and my beauty,” she continued, while describing her age at the time as “a weird age” to be submitted to Hollywood’s unreasonable scrutiny.
Paramount Classics / courtesy Everett Collection
“[Coppola] just gave me a lot of confidence that I carried throughout my career in terms of producers wanting to fix my teeth. People just trying to change and manipulate young actresses in a way to make them the same.”
American Zoetrope / courtesy Everett Collection
“She made me feel beautiful for who I was. That was a very pivotal time in my life to feel that way and to be given that.”
Paramount Classics / courtesy Everett Collection
Watch the entire video here.