Kristen Dunst has opened up about why she took a break from Hollywood.
The Academy-nominated actress rose to fame in 1994 after starring as a child vampire named Claudia in the horror film, Interview with the Vampire, opposite Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.
Dunst then transitioned to leading roles in teen flicks such as The Virgin Suicides and Bring It On and soon gained wider attention for her role as Mary Jane Watson in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004).
As the Golden Globe nominee has been in the movie industry since she was a child and has a diverse catalog, she recently spoke out about the acting roles she has been offered now that she's older.
Kirsten Dunst hasn't acted in years. Credit: Daniele Venturelli / Getty
The 42-year-old star revealed the reason why she hasn't acted since The Power Of The Dog - a psychological drama she co-starred with her husband Jesse Plemons - despite it garnering critical success. "Every role I was being offered was the sad mom," a frustrated Dunst disclosed to Marie Claire.
"To be honest, that's been hard for me... Because I need to feed myself," she said of her reluctant break from Hollywood. "The hardest thing is being a mom and...not feeling like I have nothing for myself.
That's every mother - not just me."
"There's definitely less good roles for women my age," Dunst added.
When questioned if she "already" feels the impact of ageism in Hollywood, the Elizabethtown actress responded: "Yes. That's why I did Civil War."
In Dunst's latest movie - which is written and directed by Alex Garland - she stars as a photojournalist in a near-future dystopia where the United States has been torn apart under the authoritarian rule of a three-term president, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The actress' 35-year-old husband also appears in the A24 film, alongside Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Cailee Spaeny, and Nick Offerman.
Elsewhere in the Marie Claire interview, Dunst revealed that the movie's combat sequences and a car chase shot in rural Georgia "shook [her] to [her] core," sharing: "I remember hearing them practice an explosion. We were in the hair and makeup trailer, which was very far away from set, and the whole trailer shook."
She explained that the violent scenes, such as a gunfight set outside the White House, hit home because of how close they seemed to reality. "There’s so much gunfire," she said, "And then you look at the news and it’s a school shooting again."
The Hidden Figures actress said she "had PTSD for a good two weeks after [the film shoot]," adding: "I remember coming home and eating lunch and I felt really empty."
Kirsten Dunst's husband Jesse Plemons also stars in Civil War. Credit: Stefanie Keenan / Getty
In terms of the similarities to politics, Dunst said that she sees her upcoming film as "a cautionary tale, a fable of what happens when people don’t communicate with each other and stop seeing each other as human beings".
