The Marvelous Mary Jane: Kirsten Dunst

It was a time where teen movies were the rage and music videos were kinda fading on MTV, not knowing that they would later be replaced by reality tv shows about teen pregnancy. Then..out of nowhere…BOOM!! The Star Wars prequels started to hit the theaters, along with Keanu Reeves making a comeback to his acting career with the Matrix. “Woah..” Lord of the Rings Trilogy successfully smashed its way through the box office informing all that this millennia of the Geek/Nerds has begun! X-Men premiered in the theaters as well, generating a lot of money which prompted all other studios of an untapped gold mine of Superhero Movies.

Sony Pictures won the rights and was developing the very first silver screen adaption of Spider-Man. Kirsten Dunst was cast as Mary Jane Watson. She was one of the “it girl” at the time, meaning she appealed to a younger crowd which only worked in her favor. The director, Sam Raimi, saw the spunky personality she brought to her character in Bring It On and she was asked to audition. At first, Kirsten mistakenly thought her character was blonde when using a comic book as a reference to her character. She thought MJ was Gwen. Her audition wasn’t an easy task and difficult to shoot. She auditioned with the star of the film Tobey McQuire in the upside down kiss scene.

Cold and loud studio pouring rain, Kirsten shouting her lines so the mics could pick them up. She was wet, freezing and making out with a man that was hanging upside down and suffering a cold at the time. She was still grateful for the audition and thanked Raimi and Tobey for the chance. Seemed to have payed off as that scene was beautiful, sexy, and was cemented as one of the best kissing scenes in cinema history. The studio and director knew they found their Mary Jane.

The movie premiered and it was a box office smash. Following a very successful sequel (considered to be the Best Spider-Man movie of all time) and a rather disappointing third film, the Raimi series came to an end. The first Spider-Man Trilogy jump started her acting career and lead her onto other movies roles. Dunst has expressed that she would have loved to do the planned fourth film as Mary Jane, but the studio had already parted ways with Raimi and went on with the rebooted Webb series staring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone.

Dunst: “I wanted to be in that movie so badly. I loved it, and I wish we could have made a fourth.”

In this rebooted series Shailene Woodley was set to play Mary Jane, but the director decided to cut her out of the picture. Dunst however had good things to say about Woodley when she was interviewed by MTV, before Woodley was cut from the movie

“I really like her too, a lot,” Dunst said.” “I’ve met her a few times and we’ve talked about health foods, we know some of the same people, she’s really into finding springs and natural water and she’ll go get her water and things like that. … I think she’s a sweetheart and such a good actress.” Overall, Dunst gives Woodley her Mary Jane stamp of approval. “I’m happy,” she said. “If I had to pick someone, I’m happy she’s following in my shoes.”

Dunst also was very opinionated on the Spider-Man franchise and where it went after her involvement in the first series. When she was asked on her thought on Spider-Man in the MCU she stated “We made the best ones, so who cares?” Dunst said before continuing: “I’m like, You make it all you want, They’re just milking that cow for money. It’s so obvious. You know what I mean,” she finished.

She not entirely wrong with the negative reviews from the Webb series and the MCU Spider-Man labeled as the “Iron Man Jr.” Where is she and what is she up to now? Enjoying the simple life. Engaged to Jesse Lon Plemons and mother to her son, Ennis Howard Plemons.