“Movies Aren’t Fun To Make”: Kirsten Dunst Names This Underrated Sci-Fi Tragedy As Her Favorite Filming Experience

Kirsten Dunst shares her favorite filming experience — the movie Melancholia — in an ironic comment. This year, the 43-year-old star was a co-lead with Channing Tatum in the dark comedy movie Roofman, following her leading role in Alex Garland’s 2024 critically acclaimed political thriller Civil War. Before that, Dunst’s last movie was 2021’s The Power of the Dog, an Oscar Best Picture nominee.

Dunst has had a very long career as she was first a notable child star, still remembered for movies including Jumanji, Interview with the Vampire, and Little Women. As a young woman, she became a frequent collaborator of Sofia Coppola, starring in The Virgin Suicides and Marie Antoinette. Dunst also made her mark playing Mary Jane Watson in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy.

But apparently, the movie Dunst had the best time filming is an underseen sci-fi tragedy from 2011. When asked on the podcast SmartLess if she thought of any job as the “greatest experience of [her] whole career so far,” Dunst responded: “I don’t know, cause movies aren’t fun to make, you know what I mean?“ However, Melancholia was particularly low-key and intimate.

Dunst continues: “I liked making Melancholia. It was like this little isolated…it felt like we were doing a play, we all lived in this small town in Sweden in this hotel/housing place, and it was just like cozy and really calm and so […] I don’t know, I just felt like ‘Oh, this is what it could be like’.” She also adds that they “were there in the summer, so [they] had a beautiful Swedish summer.“

Justine (Kirsten Dunst) walking in a forest in her wedding dress in Melancholia

Melancholia is a contained narrative, focusing on a wedding party and then the tense aftermath between a few family members. Sisters Justine (Dunst) and Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) are navigating a strained relationship, staying at Claire and her husband John’s (Kiefer Sutherland) estate. However, their time is limited as another planet is hurtling towards Earth.

Directed by Lars von Trier (Antichrist, Dogville), Melancholia also stars Brady Corbet, Alexander Skarsgård, and Stellan Skarsgård, and has a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. It grossed $21 million worldwide on an estimated $9 million budget, making for an unremarkable theatrical release. However, the movie has gained more recognition over time.

While an unconventional movie like Melancholia may be the most enjoyable to film for Dunst, she is returning to the type of project she is known for. Dunst and Coppola are set to reunite for a fifth movie in the future, following 2013’s The Bling Ring and 2017’s The Beguiled. However, movie enthusiasts should not forget to check out perhaps the star’s most underrated project.

Release Date

November 11, 2011

Runtime

130 minutes

Director

Lars von Trier

Writers

Lars von Trier

• Charlotte Gainsbourg

  Claire