Kirsten Dunst and husband Jesse Plemons may be household names courtesy of their extensive Hollywood careers, but that doesn’t mean their own children are huge fans of their varied movie roles.
“I mean, they’ve seen Jumanji and Spider-Man,” Dunst, 43, exclusively told Us Weekly while attending the Roofman premiere in Los Angeles on Monday, September 29. “Every time I’m like, ‘Do you want to watch Like Mike?’ they’re like, ‘No.’ So… Small Soldiers, my kids like, too.” (Plemons starred in 2002’s Like Mike, a kids comedy about a boy who dreams of becoming a famous basketball player.)
She then clarified, “One of my kids likes [it].”
The Civil War star shares Ennis Howard, born in May 2018, and James Robert, born in May 2021, with fellow actor Plemons. The pair got engaged in 2017 and expanded their family before eventually tying the knot in Jamaica in 2022.
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Dunst and Plemons recently starred alongside one another in the hit film Civil War — a last-minute cameo on behalf of her husband that had the pair working opposite each other in what can be described as an intense exchange.
“It happened during rehearsal that the actor dropped out, and Jesse was there [in Atlanta, where the movie was filmed] with the kids,” the actress told Seth Meyers during an April 10 appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers. “And I suggested him.”
She added at the time of her husband’s unruly character, “Nobody wants to play this role. It’s very intense.”
“I will say, it helps that I feel like we’ve seen Jesse over the years, both play good guys and bad guys, and we know him to be a good guy,” Meyers responded at the time. “You’re right, if it was some actor I’d never seen before, I would be, like, repulsed every time I saw him ever since. So I feel like Jesse took one for the team.”
“He really did,” Dunst agreed. “He’s a brilliant actor.”
Dunst’s kids are likely to be unfamiliar with her latest film, Roofman, as well. Starring Channing Tatum as escaped convict and professional thief Jeffrey Manchester, the film follows Tatum’s character after he finds solace inside a Toys “R” Us, managing to evade arthritis for months before he falls in love with Dunst’s character, Leigh Wainscott, a divorced mom.
When asked what drew her to the role, Dunst made it clear that it had less to do with the story itself and more to do with who was involved in telling it.
“To be honest, working with Derek Cainfrance,” Dunst told Us of the chance to create alongside the film’s director. “I love his movies, and I love acting in his films and I wanted to be a part of that process. So he could have asked me to do anything, and I would have worked with him.”
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Based on a true story, Dunst also had a chance to meet the real-life Leigh Wainscott in preparation for the role — an experience she said helped her better portray her in the film.
“She has a lot of grace,” Dunst said. “And she’s so, you know, forgiving of what happened and still talks to Jeff. And she was just very giving of her presence — her natural presence. So that’s something that I could take with me in portraying Leigh.”
Dust also dished on what it was like to work alongside Channing.
“He’s lovely,” she gushed of her costar. “He’s a wonderful guy, and also just a very present actor and really kind.”
Roofman hits theaters nationwide on October 10.
