Kirsten Dunst is the current frontrunner for 2022’s best-supporting-actress Oscar for her devastating turn in Jane Campion’s slow-burning Western The Power of the Dog. If the 39-year-old New Jersey native does make her way up to the podium come March, it’ll be the culmination of more than three decades of work. At the age of eight, she appeared as the adorable daughter of Tom Hanks and Kim Cattrall’s characters in The Bonfire of the Vanities. She went on to play a ringleted killer in Interview with the Vampire, the younger Amy March in 1994’s Little Women, a rebellious teen in The Virgin Suicides, and a peppy cheerleader in Bring It On. Then came the Spider-Man franchise, the raucous Marie Antoinette, the haunting Melancholia, and Fargo, the anthology series in which she co-starred with her now partner Jesse Plemons. The pair have two children, one of whom was born earlier this year.
The two actors reunite on screen in The Power of the Dog, a blistering tragedy set in 1920s Montana. Dunst takes on the role of Rose, a soft-spoken, widowed innkeeper with a sensitive teenage son called Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee), while Plemons is George, the gentle brother of the brutish Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch), both wealthy ranchers. When George secretly marries Rose, Phil is furious and labels her a “cheap schemer.” When she tries to practice the piano, having previously played in theaters, he menacingly plays the banjo. At a dinner party, she finds herself unable to play for their guests, is mocked by Phil, and begins drinking. By the time Peter comes to visit from college, she’s a wreck and alarmed further when Phil takes Peter under his wing, with disastrous consequences.
As the film arrives in theaters ahead of its Netflix debut on December 1, Dunst tells us about shooting in rural New Zealand, crafting secret backstories with Smit-McPhee, and why she was made to clean Campion’s apartment.
Vogue: Were you and Jesse Plemons approached about The Power of the Dog at the same time?
Kirsten Dunst: He was actually approached first. I said to him, “You’re so lucky. You get to work with Jane Campion.” Then I was approached [laughs]. She’s been a heroine of mine. All the actresses she works with give such incredible performances in her movies. She wrote to me once in my early 20s about possibly working together and I saved it. So, it was really a dream.
What were your discussions with Jane like when it came to the character of Rose?
She asked what I could bring from my past to Rose. It was about talking and getting to the bottom of her feelings. What’s the facade and what’s actually happening? Jane likes to get to the psychological things behind people’s motivations, pain and fear. Rose is very different from me. I have to soften my voice and my manner. I’m from New Jersey, so we’re kind of loud people [laughs]. She’s also very insecure. She doesn’t vocalize what’s happening at all. She just takes it in and makes herself suffer. Her self-esteem and her whole being start to be swallowed up because of what this man is subtly doing to her.
How much preparation did you have to do? Did you already play the piano?
I didn’t. Every night, I’d go over it again and again. When it finally clicked, I think I cried. It’s so hard to learn an instrument when you’re older. I also have someone who I work with and basically you kind of do therapy between you and the character. Then, before I get on set, I have a bible of ideas for each scene—where I am and what I want to get across. We rehearsed for two weeks, improvised with each other, and had pretend dinner scenes which filled in the blanks of what you don’t see in the film. Benedict [Cumberbatch] and I didn’t talk to each other on set. Sometimes, I wouldn’t talk to anybody so that I’d have a lump in my throat. You feel so small. You understand what this character is going through.
What came out of those dinner scenes?
Uncomfortable dynamics. Like, what would Phil be like to her? What would George say in defense? How would her son react? It was about living in our characters. Also Jane made me clean her apartment [laughs]. She wanted Rose to be hardy. She runs an inn so she wanted to make sure things looked authentic when I did them and I could use all the tools.
Kodi Smit-McPhee is extraordinary in the role of your son. How did you bond?
Kodi and I had a secret together on set that he’d killed my husband, his father, even though he didn’t in the story. I think it deepened our dynamic as mother and son.
And you have, of course, worked with Jesse before, but what was it like this time?
When our characters first meet, I think they recognize a loneliness in each other. We had to be very formal with each other which was funny. He’s my favorite actor to work with. I fell in love with him creatively first. We definitely want to work together again on another project.
Rose’s descent into alcoholism is so hard to watch. How did you make it look so real?
I’m really happy when those scenes are done. There’s an emotional scene involving some hides and I was listening to a lot of Jonny Greenwood because he was doing the score for our movie. I listened to some of The Master’s soundtrack to just be alone and in my own brain and not listen to everything on set. It was pretty carefully mapped out. The moment that she decides to start drinking was really important to me and that wasn’t in the script. I told Jane, “There needs to be a significant moment when she decides.” It was my idea for that to happen at the end of the scene where she plays the piano.
Rose’s costumes change as she changes. What do they tell us about her character?
Jane and I liked the idea of her hiding out in her bedroom in her nightgown when she’s drinking too much or hungover or too scared to go out and face Phil. In those scenes, she’s feeling vulnerable. We thought it was important that her hair was wet like she was always taking baths and that she was always in these pale and delicate rose colors. Her skin kind of blends with the colors of the nightgown. We also didn’t want her to seem like a gold-digger either, like she was spending George’s money in frivolous ways. That’s not Rose.
And what was it like to film against these spectacular backdrops in New Zealand?
There’s a bit where Jesse and I are on top of these mountains in Queenstown. I’ve never shot in such a magical place in my life. Then we shot on the ranch in an isolated bit of the South Island. I think it was a national park that they were allowed to build this ranch on because the mountains looked like the mountains in Montana. Then we went to Auckland to do all the interior shots. We had to stop filming halfway through because of the pandemic. I thought, “We’re never going to finish this.” We were lucky that [Prime Minister] Jacinda [Ardern] got their country back in order so quickly. We were able to come back to New Zealand. We quarantined for two weeks and then finished the film.
When the film premiered at Venice, the response was rapturous and now there’s Oscar buzz building around your performance. How’re you feeling about all that?
Working with Jane on her first film in 12 years and to have it be so well received has been amazing. I can’t wait for Jesse to join us on one of these press things. He’s been working so we can’t even enjoy these free hotel rooms. That’s been the saddest part of this whole thing, but he’s with the kids. I’d feel terrible if they didn’t have either of us.
You and Jesse have spoken about wanting to direct together. Is anything in the works?
Nothing’s planned, but that’s something we definitely want to do together eventually. Maybe when our kids are off to college and we’re empty nesters, we’ll start directing.
That seems like the perfect time. What has it been like navigating the pandemic with a newborn?
Getting pregnant during lockdown was good for me mentally because I had to take care of myself and I had something to look forward to. But, it was also scary and really isolating. Your kids are affected by it too. It hurts you as a parent to see your kid in a mask going to school. But also, he had both of us every day and we got to hang out together. It’s so wild what we all went through in different ways and what we’re still going through.
The Power of the Dog is in select theaters now and will be on Netflix from December 1.
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