Kirsten Dunst Reflects on Brad Pitt's Protective Role During 'Interview with the Vampire'

Kirsten Dunst Says Brad Pitt Was Like Her Older Brother Despite Kiss in Interview with the Vampire

Brad Pitt and Kirsten Dunst in ‘INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE’ Francois Duhamel/Sygma via Getty Images

Kirsten Dunst has happy memories of working with Brad Pitt when she was just 11 years old at the start of her career.

Now 41, Dunst acted alongside Pitt, who is now 60, in the 1994 gothic horror movie, Interview with the Vampire. Back then, Pitt was 30 years old, and she remembers how he formed a special connection with her.

Dunst shared in an interview with The Telegraph that Pitt was like an older brother to her. She mentioned that she was treated like a princess on set and felt comfortable with everyone, despite it being mostly male.

In addition to Pitt, Interview with the Vampire also featured Tom Cruise, Christian Slater, and Antonio Banderas. Dunst remembered that Cruise, who is now 61, also treated her like family during filming.

“One morning, around Christmas, I remember going into my dressing room at Pinewood and he’d set up a beautiful tree in there for me, covered in ornaments,” she shared.

Kirsten Dunst Says Brad Pitt Was Like Her Older Brother Despite Kiss in Interview with the Vampire

Kirsten Dunst's first major role was in the movie 'Interview with the Vampire' alongside Brad Pitt. Before that, she had small roles in Woody Allen's 'New York Stories' in 1989 and Brian De Palma's 'The Bonfire of the Vanities' the next year. For her performance as the child vampire Claudia, Dunst received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

In the movie, Dunst had to kiss Pitt who was much older than her. While talking about the film in 1994, she told Entertainment Tonight that the experience was very awkward.

She said, "I really didn't like [the kiss] because Brad was like an older brother to me on set, so it felt like kissing a family member. It was strange because he was much older and I had to kiss him on the lips, so it was not pleasant."

Two decades later, the actress was shown a clip of her reacting to the kiss by ET, and her reaction remained unchanged.

"Yeah, it was gross! I still feel that way. It would have been much weirder if an 11-year-old said, 'It was great.' You would think, 'There's something not right with this child,'" Dunst commented in August 2019.

Despite the awkward kissing scene, Dunst shared with ET that she enjoyed working with Pitt and Cruise. She mentioned that both actors were very kind to her during the filming. Dunst also expressed that the whole experience of working on the film was unlike anything else she had ever experienced, except maybe for "Marie Antoinette" due to the unique shooting location. Overall, she felt that movies like that are rare to come by nowadays.

Editor's P/S:

Kirsten Dunst's fond recollections of working with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise on "Interview with the Vampire" offer a glimpse into the formative experiences of a young actress. Pitt's protective and brotherly presence, along with Cruise's thoughtful gestures, created a supportive environment for Dunst amidst a predominantly male cast. Her memories highlight the importance of mentorship and kindness in fostering the growth and well-being of young performers in the entertainment industry.

Dunst's candidness about the awkwardness of her on-screen kiss with Pitt further underscores the complexities of navigating age differences and personal boundaries in the context of filmmaking. Her unwavering stance on the matter demonstrates her maturity and self-awareness, even decades later. It also raises questions about the