Name: Kirsten Caroline Dunst Date of Birth: 30 April, 1982 Place of birth: Point Pleasant, New Jersey, USA Special moves: Acting, singing, cheerleading, getting captured Films include: Jumanji, Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, Bring It On, Spider-Man, Wimbledon, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, Melancholia

What you probably already know:

A bona fide child actor, Dunst Jr. skipped school with starring roles in the likes of Jumanji, Small Soldiers and a well-received turn in the film that kick-started it all: Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles. With a stash of nominations and awards, and having ranked creepily high in People Magazine’s list of the 50 Most Beautiful People, Kirsten bade farewell to adolescence with roles in The Virgin Suicides and Bring It On.

Dunst is perhaps best known, however, for her role as perennial wet blanket Mary Jane Watson in Sam Raimi’s Spider-man franchise. Donning a red wig and her most sullen facial expression, Watson somehow managed to trump the film’s astounding special effects and exemplary direction with an upside-down kiss in the rain that left girls swooning and their boyfriends hanging precariously from the rafters. Following a slightly less than stellar reaction to the series’ confused third instalment, Dunst traded in her grimace for a lighter turn opposite Simon Pegg in How to Lose Friends and Alienate People. Turning her smile back upside down for a bit of a facial workout, Dunst is currently back in cinemas greeting the end of the world in Lars von Trier’s Melancholia.

What you might not know:

We’ll skate past the borderline game-changing revelation that Kirsten’s first name is in fact pronounced Keersten (Wittertainment had it first), and instead focus on the maybe little-known fact that Ms. Dunst has sung in many of her movies, once again proving that a select few people are indeed hogging all of the talent. Refreshingly, not only has Kirsten Dunst avoided the apparently contractual stint in rehab (well…almost), but she has no interest in forcing a half-baked album (generally full of butchered cover-songs) on her loyal supporters. “No way. It worked when Barbra Streisand was doing it, but now it’s a little cheesy, I think. What actor do you really take seriously who becomes a singer? It’s kind of ridiculous. I can’t think of anybody”. True story.

Kirsten Dunst quote:

“I’d like to grow up and be beautiful. I know it doesn’t matter, but it doesn’t hurt.”

What to say at a dinner party:

“Kirsten Dunst was initially unable to pronounce her name as a child, an issue her family resolved with the nickname Kiki. She has since gone on to voice the role of Kiki in the English dubbing of the Miyazaki animated feature Kiki’s Delivery Service. Coincidence?”

What not to say at a dinner party:

“Spider-Man 3 was well shit, innit.”

Final thought:

Can we have a Jumanji sequel now, please!?

Anything else you think the world should know? Drop us a comment below!