When Channing Tatum learned that Kirsten Dunst had signed on to star opposite him in Roofman, he was thrilled. Then a slight panic set in.
“I never get nervous about working with people, but that’s Kirsten Dunst bro,” Tatum tells Vogue. “I knew I was gonna have to up my game because she’s a beast. She doesn’t have a single miss on her resume, it’s all bangers.”
Directed by Blue Valentine’s Derek Cianfrance, Roofman marks a more-than-worthy addition to the Dunst canon. The film is based on the true story of Jeff Manchester (Tatum), a convicted robber who earned the nickname “Roofman” for his habit of breaking into McDonald’s restaurants by drilling through their roofs, politely ushering the staff into the walk-in freezer, and raiding the registers. Manchester was eventually apprehended by the police in January 2005 before escaping and living out of a Toys “R” Us in Charlotte, North Carolina for months.
Dunst plays Leigh Wainscott, a single mother and Toys “R” Us employee with whom Jeff strikes up a relationship. What begins as a crime caper morphs into an unexpected rom-com as Jeff spends more time with Leigh’s family and even joins her local church, all while concealing his real identity and living behind a display of bicycles at Leigh’s workplace. If that doesn’t sound like the strongest foundation for a relationship, it’s a testament to Dunst and Tatum’s crackling chemistry that you still find yourself rooting for them.
“In my opinion, there is no greater actor on the planet than Kirsten,” says Cianfrance. “The thing that really blows my mind is that she s a former child star who’s been acting practically her entire life, yet she’s still so deeply connected to people. An actor’s job is to express what it is to be human, and she’s as salt-of-the-earth as they come.”
Since her breakout role in 1994’s Interview with the Vampire, where an 11-year-old Dunst acts circles around Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, she has emerged as one of our most versatile performers. In 1999 alone, Dunst appeared in the political comedy Dick, Sofia Coppola’s feature debut The Virgin Suicides, and the teen pageant satire Drop Dead Gorgeous. She starred in superhero movies before it was trendy, delivered the performance of a lifetime in Melancholia, and earned her first Oscar nomination for a Jane Campion film. If Roofman appears pat by comparison, Cianfrance’s humanistic approach to the material mines unexpected depth—and humor—from the story of a desperate man yearning for human connection, and the woman who gets tangled in his web of lies. It’s Tatum’s best performance since Magic Mike, and Dunst is simply luminous.
“Any time I make a movie, I never put any pressure on myself because I never think anyone is going to see it,” Dunst recently told me over cups of ginger tea at her Upper East Side hotel. “I try to make it about what I want to experience—I’ll go anywhere and do anything if you’re trying to make something interesting.”
With Roofman now in theaters, Dunst caught up with Vogue to talk about meeting the real Leigh, memories from Drop Dead Gorgeous, and reuniting with Sofia Coppola.
Vogue: I must admit that when I first saw you were doing a movie called Roofman, I thought, She’d better not be playing some thankless “girlfriend” role…
Kirsten Dunst: It could have easily been that. I didn’t even read the script, someone on my team just said, “Derek really wants you to be in this movie.” But Leigh isn’t a role that I would normally wanna play.
Why is that?
I wouldn’t typically be dying to play “the girlfriend.” But I would play any part just to work with Derek, and once I read it I knew I could find my way into Leigh. This also came to me right after Civil War and The Power of the Dog, when I hadn’t done anything light in quite a minute. My mother- and sister-in-law are both from Texas, so I know those kind of feisty Southern ladies and thought it was something I could channel.
What did that process look like?
The accent helped a lot. Because Leigh isn’t famous, I didn’t feel any pressure to nail her voice or mannerisms. I worked with an accent coach who told me to find someone from North Carolina that I like, so I poked around the internet and found an interview with a young Emmylou Harris. I don’t sound like her in the movie, but there was something so sweet and homey about her tone. I would watch that interview a lot during filming. Derek also showed me a video where Leigh talks about this whole experience, so I had that to refer back to. But it was more important for me to carry the sense of love she had for Jeff into my performance.
I don’t consider myself particularly religious, but I was quite moved by how the film portrays Leigh’s faith. It’s such a grounding force in her life, but the film never feels like it’s trying to convert the audience.
One of the things that struck me when I met Leigh is how much grace she had about this situation. I mean, she still talks to Jeff and has a lot of love for him. I think her faith is a big part of what kept her so level-headed. Christianity was a source of love and goodness for her and gave her a sense of community—you know, how it should be!
How did you feel about Derek asking you and Channing not to talk before filming, so that he could capture your first interaction on-camera?
It puts so much more pressure on your first scene. It’s always weird to walk into a room and suddenly be like, Now you’re acting together! During pre-production, Channing would be in the next room over, trying on fake beards or whatever, and I’d always walk by trying to get a peek through the door. Derek likes to mess with reality and try to capture a feeling on-camera instead of rehearsing everything to death. He’s afraid of losing that sparkle and really wants to capture those moments of awkward reality, so the way he sets things up is very emotionally freeing for his actors.
I could imagine a lesser version of the film where your character gets swept off her feet by Jeff, but I love that your first scene with Channing completely undercuts that idea. You’re the one who asks him out on a date and asks him back to your place.
When Derek started watching the dailies, he was like, “I’m surprised that Leigh is kinda tough.” I said, “Well, if you’re a single mom raising two teenage girls by yourself, you’ve gotta be tough.”
How involved was the actual Leigh during production?
She came to set and I got to meet her. She’s in the movie, too—I think she plays a crossing guard.
I got the impression from Derek that a lot of minor characters in Roofman are played by the actual people surrounding Jeff’s capture. He mentioned that you fully improvised a scene with the officers who interrogated Leigh twenty years ago.
It’s near the end of the film when Leigh on the phone with Jeff and the camera stays on him in the car. On the other side of the phone, we filmed like an hour of me having a full-on meltdown as these cops interrogated me in-character. The scene kinda made the movie lose momentum at a very crucial moment, so it got cut. Derek said, “Your performance was so great, Kirsten, it’s a shame it’s not in the movie!” But the craziest part is that Leigh was there the day we filmed it.
How was that experience for her?
I think it was cathartic for her to watch. Usually the real-life people involved in a movie don’t come on super emotional days. It didn’t really bother me, but it really got to her. I came to think it was sorta meant to be that she was there. She loves the movie so much.
I’m glad it’s coming to theaters as well. It gives me a little faith that the same studio putting out the Mission: Impossible films is also distributing this type of gentle, mid-budget crowd-pleaser.
It’s the type of movie you wanna take your family to over the holidays. One of my methods for building a character is using my dreams, and I kept seeing a Christmas tree in my dreams around the time we started filming, so I always did a “Christmas take.”
Like a take with a little extra sugar on top?
Exactly. After we shot a scene a few times, I’d do a “Christmas take” like I was in a Christmas movie. Derek even started going, “Kirsten, ready for your ‘Christmas take’?”
One thing Channing and Derek both said was how remarkably grounded you are—despite having been extremely famous since you were a child.
I wonder why that is? Maybe because I take what I do very seriously, but I also know how to enjoy the work without letting it hurt my feelings.
In the sense of bad reviews?
Or not getting a part I want, or just not feeling like enough, or even looks-wise. This industry can be pretty gnarly on your self-esteem. I’ve also seen a lot of actors who start to believe their own hype, but I’ve never been someone who thinks that I can act a certain way just because I’m in movies.
Was there anyone specific who you remember setting an example for how someone at the top of a call-sheet should behave?
I went straight from Interview with a Vampire into shooting Little Women, so I had all the best women immediately after the best dudes. I got to hang out with all the cool girls that I looked up to, like Winona [Ryder] and Claire [Danes]. Then I went on to work with Sofia on The Virgin Suicides, which felt like a real transitional moment in my career because she treated me like an adult and really respected me. I worked with a lot of terrific female directors pretty early in my career, so I never felt like I went through any of that “trying to please dad” stuff you sometimes go through with male directors. But it did take me a second to not need outside validation.
I love that you broke out making commercial blockbusters like Interview with a Vampire and Jumanji, then veered towards quirkier material like Dick and Drop Dead Gorgeous. To what do you attribute your taste in projects at that moment in your career?
I loved watching beauty contests with my friends when I was a teenager, so I really wanted Drop Dead Gorgeous. I loved that script so much and thought it was laugh-out-loud funny—I still think it’s one of the funniest movies of all time. I was obsessed with Christopher Guest movies at the time and it kinda felt in that zone.
Did you do pageants growing up?
No, which is why I really wanted to play someone who did. I remember reading a lot of so-so scripts at the time but movies like that and Dick just jumped off the page. Those were both parts that I advocated for because I really wanted them. I picked scripts based on what I wanted to see, and at that time I wanted to see weird, goofy comedies.
What about Small Soldiers?
That was more of a “this will probably make a lot of money” choice. I hate working on movies where nothing is there because it gets really boring.
“Nothing there” like…
Like, “Kirsten, here’s where the soldier is gonna be—now act scared.” I hate that. I had to do so much of that in the Spider-Man movies.
Have you watched any of the Spider-Man movies you’re not in?
I have not.
Are your kids at the point where they wanna watch your Spider-Man movies?
Not quite, but my four-year-old wanted to watch Venom recently and I was like, sure, why the hell not. That was a mistake because he loves doing the Venom voice now. It’s not that I don’t enjoy [superhero movies], I just don’t think I will, for some reason. But when I watch them I’m usually pleasantly surprised.
Would you ever do another superhero movie?
Why not? But I think I would have to play Mary Jane again—just old-girl Mary Jane. I’ve had conversations about playing other characters in superhero movies before, but they won’t hire me because I’m too closely identified with Mary Jane.
That’s why it’d be so much fun for you to do something completely unexpected.
The biggest impression a character in a superhero movie ever made on me was Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy. If I had my dream pick, I’d wanna do something like that.
Oh, I would love to see you camp it up as a Batman villain.
Exactly, like that sounds fun to me. I also really loved Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman. Let me play a villain!
I love that you seem to appreciate a camp sensibility—now I understand why films like Drop Dead Gorgeous appealed to you.
I think that growing up, I had to develop my taste as I went along. I loved John Waters movies and goofy comedies, but then I’d watch Charlotte Rampling in The Night Porter and go: “I wanna make something like that!” Drop Dead Gorgeous isn’t streaming anywhere, right?
It only recently started streaming on Paramount+, but for the longest time it was quite hard to find.
Which makes it even better, in my opinion. I love those movies you kinda have to fight to find. It makes it feel even more cool and special.
What was it like working with that cast of iconic women?
Well, they were all older than me. In the case of most movies I made when I was younger, I was the only person in the cast who was actually the age of their character. When we shot Bring It On in San Diego, everyone in the cast would drive down to Mexico on the weekends because they were in their 20s. Meanwhile, I was living in a house with my mom and brother. I have no idea what the girls on Drop Dead Gorgeous were doing, but I was young and kinda kept to myself.
What are some of your memories of working with Brittany Murphy?
She was just a fucking light, man. Our moms knew each other because we kinda circled some of the same audition rooms, but she was a little older than me. Every time I see a photo or a clip of her it just hurts my heart. But she’s so hysterical in the movie.
Did you keep in touch after Drop Dead Gorgeous?
We made this other movie together called The Devil’s Arithmetic, but not really. I loved Brittany but you just naturally sorta drift apart over the years. I also never really had a ton of actor friends. I mostly just dated them.
I watched The Cat’s Meow for the first time—
Oh, wow, that’s a deep cut.
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It was one of my few blind spots in your filmography, and now I think it may be your most underrated performance.
I remember asking my boyfriend at the time if I should do that movie, because Drew Barrymore was supposed to play that role and dropped out. I mostly did that because I wanted to work with Peter Bogdanovich, but I don’t think he knew who I was. I think the producers hired me because I’d booked Spider-Man and they thought I might get younger kids to see it.
Did Peter say as much to you?
Not explicitly, but it was pretty obvious that I was a “money choice” for that film, not a creative one. And at first the way Peter acted made me feel a little dismissed. Then by the end of the shoot we were best friends. He would speak to me about everything: “Dahling, what do you think of this hat? Dahling, do you like this dress? Dahling, dahling, dahling.”
What changed?
I think once I started acting, he was like, Wait… she’s actually good.
Did he wear his little ascots while shooting?
The ascot was always on. He was so old-school.
Did you audition for Elizabethtown?
Everybody auditioned for Elizabethtown. That was a Cameron Crowe movie, man. Everybody wanted to work with him. I auditioned for the Kate Hudson part in Almost Famous, but I was so little at that point and not right for it at all. I remember the night before I auditioned for Elizabethtown, I went to see a movie with my then boyfriend and I was so nervous because every actress I knew was fighting for it. It always feels so much better to audition for something and get it. I just had to audition for the movie I did with Ruben Östlund.
I understand that once an actor reaches a certain point in their career, they become “offer-only.”
People will say they’re offer-only, but for the right director, anyone will audition.
Right, like I assume if Paul Thomas Anderson calls—
I’ll audition. Gladly. And why not? Who cares? It’s kinda fun.
He suggested you to Lars von Trier for Melancholia, right?
Yeah, Penelope Cruz was supposed to play that role and she decided not to do it for whatever reason, and then Paul told Lars to hire me.
Now, why hasn’t he cast you in one of his movies?
It’s funny because he tried calling me recently and we were playing phone tag for a while. In my head I was like, I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. Anderson. Then we got on the phone and he wanted to talk to me about another actor that I had worked with. I was like, “You know that’s kinda mean, right?”
Back to Elizabethtown, how did you feel at the time about your character inspiring the term “Manic Pixie Dream Girl”?
It did? No, I don’t think so.
In his review of Elizabethtown for The A.V. Club, Nathan Rabin coined the term “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” to describe your character, as well as Natalie Portman’s character in Garden State.
I’ve never liked that phrase. It’s always felt a bit sexist and backhanded. It’s kind of an annoying descriptor because at the end of the day, your performance is in the director’s hands.
What’s the story behind that music video of you singing “Turning Japanese” in Tokyo?
My manager Eric called me and was like, “This pop band fell out of a music video for an art installation that Takashi Murakami is doing. You have to do it!” And I was like, “Fine, so long as it’s just for this exhibition.” Then it was all over YouTube and I was mortified. It’s not something I wanted to do or felt comfortable doing. It was supposed to be an art piece, but I was naive to think it was gonna be contained to this exhibit in London.
For what it’s worth, you look like you’re having fun.
Well, I guess I’m a good actress because I felt so uncomfortable. I loved Sailor Moon as a kid, but I did not wanna be dressed up like that on the subway.
One of the only things you haven’t tackled is theater. Would you ever do Broadway?
Probably later in life, just because of the time commitment. I can’t handle that schedule while raising kids.
Would you do a musical or a play?
I would only do a play.
But you have such a lovely singing voice—I love your musical number from Get Over It.
Doing eight shows a week is a lot on the throat. I actually had a nightmare recently that I was playing Glinda in Wicked on Broadway, except I didn’t know any of the songs and they were making me go on anyway. And Mark Ruffalo was there for some reason.
I interviewed the casting director of Mamma Mia! a while back, and she mentioned that you auditioned for the film—
I did not! I don’t remember singing any ABBA songs.
I wonder if the casting director got you confused with someone else.
I feel like I’d remember that. I remember auditioning for Les Miserables, but I don’t think I auditioned for Mamma Mia! But hey, I’d love to see the tape if it exists.
You recently said that Sofia wrote a script for you that starts shooting next year. I know you can’t share any specifics, but I wanted to ask three yes-or-no questions: are you playing a real person?
Yes, but not someone who I’d consider famous.
Is it a period piece?
Yes.
Is it going to shoot in the United States?
Yes. I think she’d be okay with me sharing that?
I don’t wanna get you in trouble with Sofia.
Can you imagine? I can’t even picture her raising her voice. But I know she’s writing something else too, so we’re not quite there yet in terms of a start date.
It’s a very creatively interesting moment in your career—The Power of the Dog, Civil War, Roofman, and your next film The Entertainment System Is Down are all character-driven, non-IP films with filmmakers who all have very different styles. What’s your guiding force as an actor these days, when it comes to choosing projects?
Right now I’m just in a spirit where I wanna do stuff that’s fun and light-hearted again, like Drop Dead Gorgeous. I really wanna do a comedy next. But at the same time, I’m always gonna be director-driven. If someone great called me tomorrow and said, “I want you to play this person who’s really down in the dumps,” I’d happily do that. I’m always up for a challenge.
This conversation has been edited and condensed.