Here’s a video featuring interviews with Kirsten, Beneditch Cumberbatch & Kodi Smit-McPhee at the New York Film Festival Premiere of ‘The Power of the Dog’.

The New York Times has posted a very interesting interview with Kirsten that you can read here. Kirsten confirms in the interview her second child is a boy & that he is called James Robert. Kirsten also (indirectly) explains why Jesse wasn’t able to attend the Venice or Telluride Film Festivals & says why both of them & their children will shortly be relocating to Texas for a few months.

Here’s a video of interviews that Kirsten & Benedict Cumberbatch did yesterday. (Kirstens segment starts at 3 minutes 30 seconds).

Kirsten Dunst is sitting next to her 2-year-old son, Ennis, who is scarfing down yogurt drops while watching “Lady and the Tramp” for the second straight day. She’s calling from rural New Zealand, where she’s holed up with Ennis and her husband, Jesse Plemons. They’ve been there since January, filming “The Power of the Dog,” a Jane Campion movie in which she and Plemons play a husband and wife dealing with a brother (Benedict Cumberbatch) who disapproves of their wedding.

The film shut down late, leaving the family stuck there because they didn’t feel it was safe to fly. They’ve been itching to return home to Toluca Lake, though, to be close to family and friends. Dunst is calling in late April. And soon, they are heading home — their flight leaves in a few days. She doesn’t know when shooting will resume on the movie or when she’ll return to playing struggling mom Krystal Stubbs on the second season of her Showtime series, “On Becoming a God in Central Florida.” But she does know she’s glad her son loves “Lady and the Tramp” because it was the first movie she ever saw in a theater and she loves it too.

What’s quarantine life been like for you?
We wanted to get out of the city, out of Auckland, so we rented a house for our son to have some grass to run around on. There’s horses around here. And we have two old cats living with us, one of whom, Sid, brings us a mouse every night. Last night, Jesse and I were sitting outside and he brings a full rabbit. I’ve never seen so much carcass in my life. I picked up a[n] eyeball the other night.

I hope you thanked him. These are gifts he’s bringing you.
Of course. “You’re such a great hunter! Thank you!” But Jesse had to catch a mouse in our bathroom the other night and throw it outside. [“Mom’s gotta talk on the phone,” she tells Ennis. “I can’t hide you.”] He keeps me sane. Yesterday we let him be naked all day and he’d pee outside in the grass. He thought it was so funny. He was so happy he could pee like a dog. It helps him with his potty training. He was pushing so hard to try to pee because he liked it so much.

Had you ever come close to working with Jane Campion before this? You two seem like a good fit.
It’s been a lifelong dream. I saved this letter she wrote me in 2000 about this other movie she wanted to make, this Alice Munro book “Runaway” that never got made. We have the same birthday, Jane and I. We work the same way — honest and direct. She likes what I like in filmmaking, all the unexpected things that happen.

You and Jesse are playing husband and wife again. I hope it works out better here than it did for Peggy and Ed Blumquist on “Fargo.”
There’s still darkness. But, yes, it does. Benedict is the problem. He’s kind of silently torturing me. His character … not Benedict. He’s lovely.

Krystal has a lot of rage in “On Becoming a God.” What do you draw on to play that?
Let’s not forget. I’ve been a child actor. [Laughs] I mean, that pretty much sums it up. But you also use relationships you’ve been in, things that annoy you, anything, everything. Bear your shame!

Your son was only 5 months old when you shot the show’s 10 episodes. What was the biggest challenge getting through those long days?
Well, I couldn’t hold my baby after my 5 p.m. spray tan. Krystal is high-maintenance! I think I was just more physically exhausted than I would have been, but that exhaustion fed into playing a character who really acts out all her frustrations. With Krystal, I could let it all hang out. She’s a very freeing character to play.

What’s the first thing you’re going to do when you get home?
Wash my hands? [Laughs]

And after you’ve dried them off?
One thing I am most excited about is just sitting and listening to records. Jesse and I have a killer sound system. We shut off all the lights and we sit in the triangle — that’s what we call the spot where the sound is perfect — and it feels like, certain records, it’s like watching “The Godfather” for the first time. I’ve cried. It feels like a religious experience. The first time I heard Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” on this, I was a mess.

I want to sit in the triangle!
Someday. I’ll play you Graham Nash’s “Songs for Beginners.” The surefire hits, though, are always a Nina Simone song or a Beach Boys song. Anyway, that’s what Jesse and I will do when we get home. Wash our hands, put the baby to bed and sit in the triangle. Maybe put on some Judee Sill. A good cry would feel good right about now.

Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times

Yesterday Kirsten was interviewed via skype (or similar) by Sam Eckmann from GoldDerby as part of their ‘Emmy Contenders’ series. Here’s the video.

She’s had a decades long career filled with red carpet moments in couture Chanel and dazzling Rodarte. Her profile has steadily risen from her fame-securing “Interview with a Vampire” role, at 12, to a Gap ad, at age 17, turns as Mary Jane in the pre-Marvel multiverse “Spider-Man” films and the title role in “Marie Antoinette.” But Kirsten Dunst insists she’s a homebody. “I don’t leave the fricking house,” she said. “I like being at home. My favorite thing to do is to eat dinner in bed. It’s so luxurious.”

Cocooning has long been a favored strategy for Ms. Dunst—she used to get Del Taco regularly delivered to her home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Toluca Lake—but it suits the 37-year-old actress especially well these days, given that she’s a fairly new mom. Ennis, her son with her “Fargo” co-star Jesse Plemons, turned one in May.

At the moment, motherhood also means that Ms. Dunst “really can’t fit into any of my clothes,” she explained. In turn, her style calculus has changed. “It’s about what I feel good in,” she said. “I’ve done the fashion-plate thing, and now I can do the comfortable thing.”

Ms. Dunst, who hails from Point Pleasant, N.J., shares her new indifference to glamour with Krystal, the water-park employee on-the-make that she currently plays on the Showtime television series “On Becoming a God in Central Florida.” Enormous advertisements around Los Angeles feature Ms. Dunst’s visage and beaming smile—in braces.

“That’s Krystal on the billboard, not me,” she said. “But I keep getting texts from my friends about it.” Here, she talks about her repository of clothing past, her favorite getaways and “Marie Antoinette” director Sofia Coppola, whom she describes as her “sister who lives in New York.”

My favorite city right now is: Austin, Texas. Jesse has a home there, and I just feel the most happy and free there. All the food is amazing. I had the best meal of my life at the sushi restaurant Uchi.

My favorite hotel is: GoldenEye in Jamaica. It’s just very chill and feels like a community hotel. Everyone becomes friends and you get drunk with the bartenders. Grace Jones would just pop over to swim. I went there with Laura and Kate Mulleavy after we did our movie “Woodshock” together, as a little vacation.

The piece of clothing I’ll never get rid of is: my Calvin Klein jeans from eighth grade. I can’t fit into them anymore, but they are sacred to me. I keep a lot of clothes, mostly from my youth—like this perfect Marc Jacobs jean skirt I wore all through my 20s. Half of my son’s closet is $12 vintage dresses I can’t let go of, and the den is filled with fancy clothes I’ve worn to events.

The best gift for a mom is: a face-lift. Isn’t that what all moms want? Or a vacation. I bought my own mom a house. I’m a good daughter.

These days I’m wearing: a lot of sweats, jeans and whatever summer dress fits. Right now, I’m either a slob or on a talk show. I’m into sweats by Entireworld. They’re so soft, they have pockets, they come in really beautiful colors and you still look like you’re trying when you wear them. I have some high-waisted jeans from the Row I like. They fit really well.

From Sofia Coppola’s closet, I’d steal: oh my God, everything. She’s the chicest woman I know. Her father gave her a heart diamond necklace that’s just beautiful—I’d definitely steal that.

My favorite piece of jewelry at the moment is: my Fred Leighton engagement ring. It’s the prettiest ring I’ve ever seen. It’s from the 1800s in Paris. Jesse [knew to go to] Fred Leighton. I’ve been working with them for years.

My beauty regimen includes: ISUN Ultra Sapphire moisturizing oil for my face. It’s always worked for me. I use Heritage Store Rosewater Mist every day to give me a little oomph. I like Weleda deodorant and body moisturizer—that’s pretty simple stuff. If you use it every other day, Biologique Recherche Lotion P50 takes away wrinkles and you never break out. It’s the best secret. For shampoo and conditioner, I like Virtue. It’s very good and it heals damaged blond hair.
As a new mother who prefers to spend on her kid, I’m nevertheless tempted to buy myself: these little gold hoops by Anita Ko I’ve been wearing to do press recently. They’re a good size. They’re small, but they’re thick.

I only really spend money on: my house. I invested young in furniture when I had “Spider-Man” money. We have some eclectic old stuff and I like BDDW when I go shopping for new things. We redid our house a year ago. It looks like a European ranch house in Sweden but in the 1970s. It feels like we’re on vacation: just comfy, as if you went away to Ojai. We have a cedar soaking tub, and Terremoto does our landscaping.

I recently binge watched: “Couples Therapy” on Showtime. It’s just the dynamics of people talking about their problems, but the therapist is very good. Having Jesse in the house, we also watched [Ken Burns’ 16-hour documentary] “Country Music” in two days. I loved it.

My favorite visual artist is: Yayoi Kusama. I first went into her installation called “Fireflies on the Water” in 2012. It was an emotional experience. It reminded me of watching fireflies at night on the dock in New Jersey when I was a kid.

I’d love to have dinner with: Abraham Lincoln. And Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn and Joni Mitchell. It’d be funny to have Joni Mitchell and Abraham Lincoln making out.

The book that most shaped me was: “Ham on Rye” [by Charles Bukowski]. I loved reading Bukowski when I was 17. A boy gave it to me. I also love “Franny and Zooey,” especially the quote about acting for God.

Marshall Heyman, The Wall Street Journal

I’ve added to the gallery pics of Kirsten at the BUILD studios in New York on August 15th.

Here’s a really great 50 minute podcast of Kirsten chatting to Josh Horowitz about her career & ‘On Becoming a God in Central Florida’.

The new issue of the net-a-porter weekly digital magazine ‘Porter Edit’ features Kirsten on the cover. The magazine also has an interview with Kirsten & a lovely photoshoot by photographer Annelise Phillips. You can read the interview & see the photoshoot here.

Kirsten Dunst is without question an experienced actress. She’s been acting since childhood but the 37-year-old found herself in ‘a totally new world’ when she began filming Showtime’s new comedy series, On Becoming a God in Central Florida, in which she plays wife and mother, Krystal Stubbs, who gets involved in a pyramid scheme that nearly destroys herself and her family in 1992.

Dunst not only stars in the series alongside Big Little Lies actor Alexander Skarsgård but she’s an executive producer too.

During the 2019 TCA Summer press tour — there’s already talk of Dunst receiving an Emmy nomination for her role, according to PopSugar — Dunst discussed how she felt about the series when she first read the script and how challenging it proved to be to get the show made.
“I have to say, this material was just so special to me,” she told the audience. “It’s been three years now, and we’ve really had a little bit of a roller coaster of how this show actually got made to now being at Showtime,” Dunst added.

She also revealed there were more than a few times she doubted the show would even happen. “We worked hard. There were so many times where I was like ‘I don’t know if I can do this.’ … So it was a lot of hard work, but I knew reading that first episode, I was like ‘This is one of the best things I’ve read,’” she said.

Dunst also said that as a new mom, she is very concerned about Krystal’s baby daughter because she didn’t want that to be something the show simply forgot about, which sometimes happens on TV shows. She also didn’t want to miss the opportunity for comedy that a baby can provide.

As a new mother, Dunst brought a fresh perspective to the show. She and her fiancé, Jesse Plemons (Friday Night Lights), whom she met on the set of Fargo, welcomed a son, Ennis Howard Plemon, in 2018. During the event, Dunst said including Stubbs’s daughter in scenes was important to her because the child provided an element of comedy plus it needed to be more realistic compared to shows that simply forget about babies in scenes and leave viewers wondering where the child is at that particular moment.

“Every episode we would get, I’d be like, ‘We gotta have that baby in there. We gotta have that baby in there,’” Dunst said. “I always thought about Raising Arizona and how well they used the baby because you should use it for comedy. Like, we have this baby, but then, you know, there’s that other side to it that you’re worried about time . . . it’s such a big part of Krystal, obviously.”

She continued, “And for me having a baby, I had a whole other perspective of babies on set and how to interact and all that stuff. It was a totally new world for me, but also I felt more comfortable.”

Talking about going back to work after having a baby she said, “It’s so much easier to go back to work than it is to be a stay-at-home mom. I was like, ‘bye’ to my mother-in-law [who watches her son while she’s at work]! I was like, [phew!],” she told the audience.

Mandi Kerr, Showbiz CheatSheet