Celebrities can be so sparkly. As a kid, I was sure fame and money meant happiness. Ha! It means hard work for years. I’ve clawed my way to the middle. Haha.

IRL, many stars have that electric charisma and look fabulous in person. After meeting a ton of A-listers, I am happy to report that only tiny number of celebs seem – shall we say – less than humble. Once in a while, a top star can be surprisingly cranky! In their defense though, fame requires working one’s tuchas off.

This photo (below) was taken at the Tribeca Film Festival red carpet for The Quiet One, a fascinating film about ex Rolling Stone Bill Wyman. It was only a half-block from my home. One rarely sees famous far-right Republicans in my all-the-way left Manhattan neighborhood. At first, Rupert seemed awkward. Most likely because he knew that he wasn’t going to make a lot of friends in Chelsea. But he loosened up and seemed to enjoy the attention. 

Blondie in the East Village

My photo has been chosen for the soon-to-be-released paperback edition of Debbie Harry’s book, ‘Face It: A Memoir.’

I met charismatic and gorgeous Debbie Harry (Blondie) at Alan Cumming’s Club Cumming. Blondie’s appearance at the Enclave Reading Series was kept on the down low. As a member of the press, I’d been tipped off ahead of time and was quickly ushered to my seat. I sat between Thomas Manzi (Harry’s manager) and the entertaining theater director and actor, Rob Roth.

The punk icon successfully slipped into the dark club without notice and was led to her seat at our table. It was great fun when the eyes in the surprised audience popped when Blondie’s presence was announced. This was Harry’s first public reading from her debut memoir, Face It (HarperCollins). Oh, what a night!

I❤️NY

More A-List Celebs

It’s a lot of fun interviewing top celebs. Here are some of the stars I’ve interviewed and photographed here in my native New York City. My YouTube Channel stats are up to 1,746,884 views.

Check out more on my YouTube Channel

Update: As you know #Covid19 put the 3D entertainment industry on hold. We all want this nightmare to end. Wear your mask, get vaccinated, stay away from lunatics with AR-15s, and please come back soon! Love and kindness. In the meantime, here’s a virtual video with another New York City icon, Joan Jett.

A–G

Alec Baldwin, Moran Atias, Woody Allen, Angela Bassett, Kim Basinger, Jamie Bell, Mayim Bialik, Roseanne Barr, Prince Lorenzo Borghese, Kate Bosworth, Lorraine Bracco, Abigail Breslin, Jeff Bridges, Adam Brody, Albert Brooks, Zlatko Buric, Gerard Butler, Rose Byrne, Lizzy Caplan, Patricia Clarkson, Glenn Close, Laverne Cox, Billy Crudup, Penélope Cruz, Rory Culkin, Willem Dafoe, Paul Dalio, Rosario Dawson, Robert De Niro, Kirsten Dunst, Aaron Eckhart, Peter Facinelli, Michael Fassbender, Abel Ferrara, Ralph Fiennes, Isla Fisher, Jodie Foster, Ciaran Foy, James Franco, Antoine Fuqua, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Julia Garner, Paul Giamatti, Alex Gibney, Terry Gilliam, Domhnall Gleeson, Shep Gordon, Ryan Gosling, Maggie Grace, Maggie Gyllenhaal

H–N

Paul Haggis, Jerry Hall, Pooch Hall, Tom Hardy, Debbie Harry, Lucas Hedges, Katherine Heigl, Jonah Hill, Emile Hirsch, Katie Holmes, Gavin Hood, Vanessa Hudgens, Holly Hunter, Oscar Isaac, Allison Janney, Richard Jenkins, Joan Jett, Felicity Jones, Jason Katims, Zoe Kazan, Catherine Keener, Jack Kesy, Sir Ben Kingsley, Luke Kirby, Kevin Kline, Steven Knight, Shia LaBeouf, Christine Lahti, Peter Landesman, Frank Langella, Jill Larson, Juliette Lewis, Liana Liberato, Ray Liotta, Justin Long, Kevin Macdonald, Eddie Marsan, Dylan McDermott, Mads Mikkelsen, Cesar Millan, Helen Mirren, Julianne Moore, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Erroll Morris, David Morse, Viggo Mortensen, Cillian Murphy, Rupert Murdoch, Kumail Nanjiani

O–Z

Edward James Olmos, Elizabeth Olsen, Ellen Page, Josh Pais, Vanessa Paradis, Nate Parker, Aaron Paul, Bernadette Peters, Oliver Platt, Carrie Preston, Richard Pryor, Jr., Kathleen Quinlan, Daniel Radcliffe, James Ransone, Jeremy Renner, Jason Ritter, Eric Roberts, Ray Romano, Paul Rudd, Winona Ryder, Susan Sarandon, Peter Sarsgaard, John Sayles, Liev Schreiber, Adam Scott, Kristin Scott Thomas, Michael Shannon, Alia Shawkat, Alexander Skarsgard, Stellan Skarsgard, Christian Slater, Mira Sorvino, Paul Sorvino, Steven Spielberg, Gloria Steinem, Kristen Stewart, Sir Patrick Stewart, Jerry Stiller, Julie Taymor, Juno Temple, Fred Thompson, Uma Thurman, Lily Tomlin, John Turturro, Sofia Vergara, Alicia Vikander, Sam Waterston, Naomi Watts, Forest Whitaker, Michael K. Williams, Patrick Wilson, Nicolas Winding Refn, Alex Winter, Nat Wolff, Elijah Wood, Evan Rachel Wood, Matilda Mae Wyman, Suzanne Accosta Wyman, Bob Zappa

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An Exclusive Interview with Nancy Spielberg

Dorri Olds: Have you thought about making this into a feature film?
Nancy Spielberg: Oh, I have. It’s like a cross between Catch Me If You Can, Band of Brothers and Indiana Jones. [Laughs] All those elements — the capers, the clandestine operations and the bigger story — have so many wonderful pieces to it, more than we could fit in the documentary.
Have you daydreamed about who could be in the movie?
I think Leo DiCaprio as [the pilot] Al Schwimmer would be good. I’ll ask my 26-year-old daughter, “Who do you think is hot and cool and can play swarthy, sexy pilot types?”
Does it make your job easier or harder to have a famous brother?
[Laughs] A little of both. It made it much harder to raise money, much harder. You know, like it’s hard to raise money for the Shoah Foundation because everybody thinks Steven Spielberg supports the Shoah Foundation completely. It was hard because I did have to answer that question. I would gather people together, show them a sample reel, tell them I’m raising money, it’s a 501(c)(3) not for profit, and I would get these questions, “Why can’t your brother give you the money?” Or “Where’s Jeffrey and David, his friends?” So I had to say, without being defensive, “I didn’t ask and that’s not the kind of relationship I want to have with my brother. I also think that this is project that we all need to support. This is not a one-man-show.” In that sense it was tough.
On the other hand, the benefit is that I feel like a lot of doors opened up and people listened to the story and I already knew a lot of people that I contacted to work. I’m very close with James Moll. He’s an incredible filmmaker who started off making home movies for my brother. “It’s Kate’s birthday, let’s make a movie.” Then he went on to make “Last Days” and “The Foo Fighters.” He’s won Oscars and Grammys and Emmys. He’s incredible. The joke was that I went to James first and said, “I need your help,” and he said, “OK, your brother helps me. I help you.” He had Harris Done, which was my dp [director of photographer] who I’ve known through James. James had Larry Benjamin, the guy who mixes sound who is incredible. These people were all willing to work with me.
Here is a fascinating sample reel:
Above and Beyond • Playmount Productions • Katahdin Productions.
Is it true that when you called Director Roberta Grossman that she didn’t believe it was really a Spielberg calling her?
Yes, she wouldn’t take my call and didn’t answer my email. She thought it was a prank. As she described it, “Hava Nagila” was opening up in film festivals and was getting all the awards and she was feeling very smug and secure. The big joke in her office was, “Oh, if that’s Spielberg, tell him I’ll call him back.”
She checked me out with Rachel Levin from Righteous Persons Foundation saying, “Does Stephen have a little sister named Nancy that’s making films?” So she checked me out before she would return my call. But I’ll tell you, she’s incredible. We have such a great team. I feel bad because sometimes that whole Spielberg thing tends to overshadow the people that deserve credit more than that name. She’s wonderful. The whole team was wonderful. I’m grateful she finally took my calls. [Laughs]

Click here to stream Above and Beyond

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“This Sunday, January 27, UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, and over 350 venues in 55 countries, will host an unprecedented screening of the award-winning documentary, “Who Will Write Our History” and concurrent Facebook Live events. The international screening events and Facebook Live, orchestrated by Abramorama, and with the support of UNESCO, the World Jewish Congress’ #WeRemember initiative and multiple major partner organizations, takes place on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and comes at a time of rising anti-Semitism, anti-Semitic attacks, and increasing concerns that the lessons of the Holocaust are quickly being forgotten.”

I feel a personal connection to this film by Spielberg and Grossman due to my family’s horrific past in Europe where they died in the Nazi concentration camps. My father’s cousin meticulously researched what happened to our family. Many were killed in the camps. The most frightening was the family members who died in Auschwitz. We will never know if they were experimented on by the demonic Dr. Josef Mengele.
Watch the Trailer
Synopsis: This film is about a courageous group of resistance fighters imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto in World War II. In November 1940, days after the Nazis sealed 450,000 Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto, a secret band of journalists, scholars and community leaders decided to fight back. Led by historian Emanuel Ringelblum and known by the code name Oyneg Shabes, this clandestine group vowed to defeat Nazi lies and propaganda not with guns or fists but with pen and paper. Now, for the first time, their story is told as a feature documentary.
The New York Times calls it, “A vital Holocaust documentary…Heartbreaking.”
Writter and director Roberta Grossman and executive producer Spielberg teamed up once again to create Who Will Write Our History which the writings of the Oyneg Shabes archive with new interviews, rarely seen footage, and stunning dramatizations that transport us inside the Ghetto and the lives of these courageous resistance fighters. They defied their murderous enemy with the ultimate weapon—the truth—and risked everything so that their archive would survive the war, even if they did not.

Now playing at the Quad Cinema in Manhattan

Showtimes & Tickets

Wed January 23

• 11.05am
• 1.00pm
• 3.05pm
• 5.10pm
• 7.15pm
• 9.20pm

Thu January 24

• 11.05am
• 1.00pm
• 3.05pm
• 5.10pm
• 7.15pm
• 9.20pm

Fri January 25

• 11.00am
• 1.00pm
• 3.40pm
• 6.30pm

Sat January 26

• 11.00am
• 1.00pm
• 3.40pm
• 6.30pm

Sun January 27

• 11.00am
• 1.00pm
• 3.40pm
• 6.30pm

Mon January 28

• 11.00am
• 1.00pm
• 3.40pm
• 6.30pm

Tue January 29

• 11.00am
• 1.00pm
• 3.40pm
• 6.30pm

Wed January 30

• 11.00am
• 1.00pm
• 3.40pm
• 6.30pm

Thu January 31

• 11.00am
• 1.00pm
• 3.40pm
• 6.30pm

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Breathe In

The actress has continued to hone her craft since then. Jones nailed it as Ruth Bader Ginsburg in “On the Basis of Sex,” released on Christmas. This film illustrates how and why the U.S. Supreme Court Justice has earned her nickname: Notorius RGB (check out the 2018 documentary “RBG” starring RBG).

On The Basis of Sex

1
Before I screened “Breathe In,” I loved Jones in “Hysteria.” Since then, I was wowed by her role in “The Theory of Everything.”

Hysteria

The Theory of Everything

“Breathe In” is a beautiful film, directed by Drake Doremus. I walked in for the exclusive interview and Jones looked even more stunning in person. But more importantly than her looks, she was warm, kind, open, and smiled a lot.
 
Dorri Olds: How was it working with Guy Pearce?
Felicity Jones: Fantastic.! I’ve always admired his work I think he always chooses really interesting directors. He’s always about the acting. He’d never done a film where he was improvising before and I could see him relishing the challenge. He’s an actor who always pushing himself. He really loved the process of making it.
Was there a lot of improvisation?
Yeah, a lot. Some things were scripted but most of it was how we made “Like Crazy.” We had an outline and then there’d be thoughts about a character and what happens in the scene and then we’d bring dialogue in on the day.
How did you become involved with film?
This was really unusual, it never usually happens, Drake asked me to do it because we had worked together on “Like Crazy” and he had this idea. In many ways this film is like a twin to “Like Crazy.” He said, “Do you want to come back and see what we can do this time?” So, that was quite nice that I didn’t have to audition. Auditions are really, really frightening. After a while you get used to them but they can be really quite intimidating.
What type of research and preparation did you do for this role?
I felt like Sophie was a very troubled young woman. There was a play called “Master Builder” by Henrik Ibsen and there is a character in that called Hilda and she was a real inspiration. I felt like she was a good foundation for understanding Sophie. There was a French film, “Le Casse” that had a similar kind of thriller mood. With any part you look at other films. There is a fairytale quality to Sophie. She was coming into a family that was heightened by her and her presence. I think that the main thing to me is the back-story for both Anna and Sophie. What was she like? What was her house like? What did her parents do? Having a really sure understanding of the character’s background is so important.
After playing beside Hugh Dancy in the light comedy, “Hysteria,” is it strange to see him playing such a dark character in “Hannibal”?
I think that’s what we always want as actors, to be able to move between different characters and take on different personalities. For me, that’s part of the joy of doing it and I imagine he loves that too.
Do you have a favorite role?
I did a play called, “The Chalk Garden,” which is an amazing play by Enid Bagnon. I played a 16-year-old who was obsessed with fire, a pyromaniac. She was a very troubled young girl and I absolutely loved the play. I was with two fantastic British actresses.
Did you ever forget your line?
Sometimes you do and you panic and look to the audience and hope for the best. That’s why it’s so brilliant to do it. You literally freeze onstage and think, ‘Why the hell am I doing this to myself?’ But it’s really exciting as well.
What’s it like watching yourself on film?
Less fun than being onstage. It’s an odd experience. I think we humans tend to be quite critical of ourselves and it can be a hard process. You watch yourself and think, ‘I could’ve done that differently.’
Did you always know you were beautiful growing up?
[Laughs] Oh, that’s a nice compliment! I guess I don’t think in those terms. I try not to think too much about what how you’re perceived on the outside. That’s not good.
Have you ever had any bad experiences with fans?
Do you know what? I’ve been really lucky. I have really nice fans. They come up and they’re always really, really respectful and I’ve never had any aggression. They’ve always been really polite and nice.
Do you Facebook and Twitter?
No, I don’t.
Do you have staff that does that for you?
No, I don’t. It’s not something I engage in. I like to see other people doing it but no, it’s not really my thing.
Do you have a favorite movie you’ve done — “Like Crazy,” “Hysteria,” “The Invisible Woman”?
I like doing them all. My focus is always the character. That’s always my way into something and I try not to patronize the character depending on when they lived. I feel like as human beings we all have the same emotions, feelings we’ve had for hundreds of years. The forces upon us are slightly different. I love period dramas as well as more contemporary films. I grew up watching “Howard’s End” and “Room with a View,” so I do like doing period work but the hook is always the character and the director.
Was Ralph Fiennes a controlling director in “The Invisible Woman”? Did you have to stick to the script?
It was a very different process from “Like Crazy” and “Breath In.” He was always just wanting to explore and he pushed me. It was always just about trying to get to something truthful about that about my character.
What’s next for you?
I have a film coming out late this year called “Theory of Everything,” which James Marsh directed. It’s about Stephen Hawking and Jane Hawking and their relationship, first meeting and falling in love and then Stephen being diagnosed with motor neuron disease, and it spans their meeting when they were in their early 20s to when they split up in their 40s. Also “True Story” with Jonah Hill and James Franco and I was in “The Amazing Spider-Man 2.”
“Breathe In” opens in New York City on March 28, 2014. It is available now On Demand. Rated R. 98 minutes.
Trailer:

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Nigerian Prince is a coming of age story and a heist thriller. Set in Lagos, Nigeria, it uncovers the hidden world of “Nigerian Prince” email scams. In the photo above, listed left to right, are actor Chinaza Uche, filmmaker Faraday Okoro, and actor Antonio J. Bell at the Tribeca Film Festival red carpet in Manhattan.
The story is based on an advance-fee fraud where a supposed Nigerian prince emails you that he will share his million dollars—or more—if you can help him with the bank fees by sending him $10,000. Then, once you’re hooked, there will be additional emails sent to you that contain even more cockamamie reasons why you will need to send the scammer more money before your big payoff of the cool mil.
It’s hard to believe that anyone is so gullible that they fall for it—but they do.

Nigerian Prince will have its theatrical release tonight.

In April, AT&T awarded its second $1 million winners, Sasie Sealy and Angela Cheng. Their film, Lucky Grandma, will have its world premiere screening during the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival next April. Both films will also run on DirecTV NOW.
AT&T and the Tribeca Film Festival are giving filmmakers another shot at $1 million to make a movie as part of the AT&T Presents: Untold Stories program, a multi-year, multi-tier alliance between AT&T and Tribeca, along with the year-round nonprofit Tribeca Film Institute. Aspiring filmmakers can submit their scripts between now and Nov. 19 for their chance to compete and become the third $1 million recipient of AT&T’s Untold Stories program. To submit your script and to view official program rules and regulations, please visit TribecaFilmInstitute.org/ATTUntoldStories.

Filmmaker Faraday Okoro

Faraday Okoro, a New York City based Nigerian-American filmmaker, wrote and directed Nigerian Prince. The movie had its premiere at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Okoro received a $1 million grant from AT&T to produce this film.
 

See more Red Carpet photos here.

Chinaza Uche—who is even more captivating in person—plays Pius, Eze’s ne’er-do-well cousin, a full-time scammer. Newcomer Uche gave a flawless and nuanced performance as a pitiable character despite his perfect looks and seductive charm. Despite his big talk as self-appointed scamming mentor to Eze, Pius leads an empty, lonely, life of quiet desperation.

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.
— Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854).

Throughout the film, there are moments where you’ll catch Pius looking like he has been haunted for years with despair. Actor Uche has gives a performance with a full range and  conveys so much with just his eyes.
The film has everything: strong plot that you haven’t seen before, great dialogue, excellent acting, a surprising amount of humor and plenty of substance.

My rating: 5 stars

All photos © 2018 Dorri Olds

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See Also: Columbine Survivor Austin Eubanks Opens Up About His Addiction After the Shooting

“I can think of no other artist who has given more to her country,” said Moore. “What an honor for our festival audience to welcome and to be inspired by the work of this American Icon. Her voice is as needed today as much as ever.”

Moore will personally host the legendary actress, author, and activist at the Traverse City Film Festival, one of the most popular cultural events in the Midwest. The 2018 program is expected to bring in 100,000 attendees with this year’s roster of nearly 100 movies.
Fonda’s massive body of work includes Coming Home (Academy Award, Best Actress, 1978), Klute (Academy Award, Best Actress, 1971), They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, Julia, The China Syndrome, On Golden Pond, and The Morning After (films for which she received five additional Oscar nominations). Fonda’s filmography includes more than 40 other films.
Fonda is also the subject of the revealing new HBO documentary Jane Fonda in Five Acts directed by Susan Lacy, which will screen at the festival. Fonda and Lacy will be watching the doc, too. Since 2015, Fonda has starred in Netflix sitcom Grace and Frankie. I chatted with the two mega-stars on the red carpet in New York City during the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival.
See Also: Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda added joy to the red carpet at Tribeca Film Festival

Fonda is also the subject of the revealing new HBO documentary Jane Fonda in Five Acts directed by Susan Lacy, which will screen at the festival, with Fonda and Lacy in attendance.
The festival will also present a 40th anniversary screening of “Coming Home,” a screening of “Julia”, and a free nighttime screening of “Nine to Five” projected on a 65-foot screen at the festival’s open space on the shores of Lake Michigan.
Fonda’s lifetime commitment to social change has also inspired a generation of artists and activists. She chairs the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, sits on the boards of Women’s Day Media Center, which she helped found, and V-Day: Until the Violence Stops. She established the Jane Fonda Center for Adolescent Reproductive Health at the Emory School of Medicine and has long been a leading advocate for environmental issues, human rights, and the empowerment of women and girls.

See Also: Jane Fonda’s List of Awards

See Also: Michael Moore’s List of Awards

Details of Fonda’s appearance along with the 14th annual Festival’s complete schedule of films and events will be announced on Friday, June 29 online at tcff.org.
Tickets for this year’s edition will go on sale to the public on Saturday, July 21 at tcff.org, but Friends of the Film Festival will be able to get early access to tickets with advance sales starting Sunday, July 15. To become a Friend, sign up online, call 231-392-1134, or email friends@tcff.org.

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Schindler’s List

It’s been 25 years since Schindler’s List was released. After the screening, Spielberg, Liam Neeson, Sir Ben Kingsley, and Embeth Davidtz will answer questions and add commentary about the what went on behind the scenes during the making of the film. New York Times critic Janet Maslin will moderate.

I’ve had the honor of interviewing the great Spielberg and Kingsley up close and personal. They were both wonderful to be around. Spielberg was surprisingly kind and generous with his time. Since I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Neeson, I’m looking forward to that, too. Tickets go on sale tomorrow, March 20 at 10:00 a.m.In
DATE: Thursday, April 26th
TIME: 6:30 PM
LOCATION: Beacon Theatre

Scarface

The legendary Scarface opened in theaters 35 years ago. It won three Golden Globe nominations and has become iconic. After the anniversary screening, director De Palma and actors Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer will reunite to discuss their gangland masterpiece. Tickets go on sale tomorrow, March 20 at 10:00 a.m.
DATE: Thursday, April 19th
TIME: 7:00 PM
LOCATION: Beacon Theatre

In the Soup

New York indie In the Soup was directed by Alexandre Rockwell and starred Steve Buscemi who played Adolpho, a man living in a deteriorating New York City apartment and trying to write a screenplay. It won a Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 1992, then disappeared. Only one damaged print remained in existence. TFF, the patron saint of independent films, will be showing the newly restored film for its world premiere! After showing the film, director Rockwell, actors Buscemi, Jennifer Beals, Sam Rockwell, and cinematographer Phil Parmet will sit down for a discussion.
Stay tuned. Much more to come!
#Tribeca2018

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Hollywood has convinced so many women to fix their “imperfections.” Not Kirsten Dunst. When the actress showed up on the set of her first Spider-Man movie, she was told to get her crooked teeth straightened. Dunst refused. “I was like, ‘No, my teeth are cool!’” Now, at age 35, Dunst has once again delivered a fi rm “No” to a filmmaker’s request. She was asked to drop some pounds for her role as Miss Edwina in the new Southern gothic thriller, The Beguiled, but Dunst said (I’m paraphrasing here), “Nope, not gonna happen.”

Oh, the irony—it was her close friend and long-time collaborator, director Sofia Coppola, who asked Dunst to slim down. Yet it was also Coppola who advised a sixteen-year-old Dunst never to change her teeth during their first work project, 1999’s The Virgin Suicides. That was the film that some would argue really put Dunst on the Hollywood movies map. In 2006, Coppola also directed Dunst in Marie Antoinette.

The Beguiled is Dunst and Coppola’s third time making a film together. It is a remake of the 1971 movie starring Clint Eastwood, and both films are based on a novel by Thomas Cullinan. The scenes are lusty and tense, and loaded with director Coppola’s love of atmosphere and high drama. It’s a thriller that takes place in Virginia during the Civil War.

In the opener, young Miss Amy (Oona Laurence), is out picking mushrooms when she spots a Yankee soldier, Corporal John McBurney (Colin Farrell). He is suffering with a badly wounded leg. She feels sorry for him and helps him back to a plantation that used to be a boarding school for girls. During wartime, it has become a shelter for six women. Dunst’s character, Miss Edwina, is a school teacher. Miss Martha, the headmistress, is played by Nicole Kidman, who teeter-totters between seemingly very good and kind, and capable of dastardly deeds. Elle Fanning plays one of the students.

With six women living under duress, McBurney’s arrival creates quite a stir. He’s not a particularly good guy in that he manipulates the women and pits them against each other by using his seductive wiles. While the women tend to his wounds, a houseful of sexual electricity sizzles. I must say, it is so refreshing to see a female director’s decision to keep all of the women clothed, but turn the man into a bare sex object. There is humor amidst the intensity.

Recently, Dunst appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. After congratulating her on both Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her role in the FX series, Fargo, Fallon urged Dunst to dish on her engagement to Fargo co-star Jesse Plemons. A blushing Dunst said that she really wanted to keep things private—especially because her fiancé and their families were watching. She confirmed the engagement and added that she was glad that she and Plemons had become really good friends first.

Fallon, continuing to press for more juicy deets, pointed out how amazing it was that by agreeing to work on that television show, Dunst met the guy she is going to marry. The actress threw her arms up in the air in mock exasperation and said, “Yes, that is amazing. I’ll name my kid Fargo Season 2.”

Her great sense of humor and quick smile are endearing and I feel lucky to have witnessed them up close when I interviewed Dunst myself on a few occasions related to her earlier movies. In 2014, I chatted with Dunst, alongside her sexy co-star Viggo Mortensen. That film, The Two Faces of January, opens with Colette (Dunst) and her husband, Chester MacFarland (Mortensen) looking very well-off, gorgeous and Great Gatsby-ish. We see them enjoying a carefree vacation in Greece, looking happy and in love. While sightseeing at the Acropolis, they meet Rydal (Oscar Isaac), a young American working as a tour guide. Rydal is dazzling gullible tourists right out of their dough, when suddenly he spots Colette and Chester. The opportunist first noticed Collette for her beauty, but then immediately sizes her up as another potential patsy. What Rydal doesn’t realize is that the slick and dangerous Chester had already been spying on the conman.

When I interviewed The Two Faces of January director and screenwriter, Hossein Amini, I asked him how he had chosen Dunst to play Collette. “I’d seen her in so many movies,” he said. “What I was really struck by is how smart she is. She has this extraordinary intuitive sense of a scene. She knows what’s going to work and what’s not. I wouldn’t be surprised if she ended up being a fantastic director. There’s an intelligence and sensitivity and almost telepathic understanding of the people she’s working with.”

Oh, how right Amini was! Dunst will be making her feature film directing debut in 2018 with The Bell Jar, an adaptation of the only novel by poet Sylvia Plath. Dakota Fanning will play the lead role of Esther Greenwood, the semi-autobiographical Plath character who descends into mental illness. Dunst and Nellie Kim co-wrote the screenplay. She has cast her fiancé Plemons to star opposite Fanning.

Dunst told me one of her reasons for doing that film was that she’d met Viggo before. Dunst shot him her signature dimpled smiled and said, “We were also both in On the Road, but we didn’t have any work together.” She mentioned that Mortensen also knew her then-boyfriend, On the Road co-star, Garrett Hedlund. She added that she’d also already known Isaac. “I immediately felt like I trust, and feel comfortable, with these people, which is very rare to happen.”

When I asked about challenges during the making of that film, Dunst said, “Sometimes for me, I felt like it was all about the boys. Sometimes Colette is objectified, since she’s the only female. But I wanted to be a part of this film because I loved the script so much, and Viggo was already attached.” She explained, “I wanted to make Colette as much of a character as I could. But it’s also about the guys, so that was probably the hardest thing for me—I wanted to make her as full as possible, when she could have easily just been a throw-away character.”

She added, “What’s interesting is that when I watch movies that are only about boys, and there aren’t any interesting female characters, I don’t really end up liking it that much.”

An earlier time I met with Dunst was in 2012, a year after she had finished Melancholia and really wanted to do a comedy. “I hadn’t done one in a while,” she said. “People don’t see you in that light unless you’re a comedic actress,” she said. “I didn’t want be pigeonholed in any type of mood, because I got a lot of scripts after Melancholia that were heady, weird, depressing. I’m like, I’m not gonna repeat this again. It’s boring for me and for everyone else, too.”

That’s how she decided on the edgy Bachelorette, which was released the following year. “I got this script, Lizzy [Caplan] was attached to and met Leslye [Headland, the director] and then I was like, this is hilarious and I would love to go completely opposite and be in this project.”

Due to the title of the movie, she mentioned the reality television show, The Bachelorette. “I like those TV shows,” said Dunst. “They’re just so ridiculous; everyone vying for a rose.” She laughed, flashing that awesome smile. “It’s so dramatic,” she said. “It’s just amazing trash television that you can watch with your mom and grandma on a Monday night!”

Dunst enjoyed her character in Bachelorette. “We look like a mess in the end of the movie,” she said. Isla Fisher chimed in, “We’re bad people doing bad things and, frankly, it’s not glossed over.” Dunst agreed and said, “I think that’s refreshing.”

Bachelorette won Official Selection at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and also starred Isla Fisher and Rebel Wilson. When I interviewed director Headland, she bounced right into a midtown Manhattan hotel room, talking fast with her blonde hair flying. She has a deep ballsy laugh yet also projects an endearing, almost childlike, vulnerability. Headlund said, “Meeting Kirsten was nerve-wracking. I remember driving to meet her and I’d smoked like 37 cigarettes and had like 18 shots of espresso. I just really wanted her to do this movie and I didn’t know what I should do to get her to say yes. Directors that I look up to—like Kubrick and Altman—have reputations of being manipulators but I’m so not like that. I’m such an open book. I thought I was going to really have to talk her into doing it.”

Much to Headlund’s delight, Dunst happily signed on. “It was a gift from God that Kirsten, who I was a huge fan of, liked the character,” said the director.

Dunst is doing all right for herself, eh? This A-lister began her career as a three-year-old child fashion model for TV commercials. She signed on with Ford and Elite modeling agencies. At age six she was in her first feature film, New York Stories, where she appeared in Woody Allen’s section titled, Oedipus Wrecks. A year after that, she co-starred with Tom Hanks in 1990s Bonfire of the Vanities. Her biggest movie breakthrough came in 1994, when Dunst was 11 and played Claudia in Interview with the Vampire with Brad Pitt.

On September 15, you’ll be able to catch Dunst in A24’s arty and haunting thriller, Woodshock. She plays Theresa, an isolated, grief-stricken woman who becomes paranoid after taking a powerful, reality-twisting drug. The film is the directing debut for Los Angeles fashion designers and screenwriting sisters, Kate and Laura Mulleavy. Until its release, you can check out the movie’s psychedelic, trippy trailer.

“It’s kind of your job as an actress to define what kind of things you want to do, and the types of people you want to surround yourself with,” Dunst told me. “It’s really your taste and what you want because everything is out there. It’s just how you go about your own process and what’s true to who you are and what you want to put out in the world.”

For all of her strength, smarts, and success, we celebrate Kirsten Dunst as the woman with the HERS spirit for this issue of Honeysuckle Magazine.

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