• Kirsten Dunst shared a hot take on the pressure to participate in anti-aging trends.
  • The actress, 41, took a break from acting after she was offered only “sad mom” roles.
  • “I’m not gonna screw up my face and look like a freak. You know what I mean?” she said. “I’d rather get old and do good roles.”

After starring in The Power of the Dog in 2021, Kirsten Dunst, 41, took a two-year break from acting. That’s because she was only offered “sad mom” parts, she recently told Marie Claire. “There’s definitely less good roles for women my age,” she added. Still, she refuses to be pressured into joining the anti-aging trends of Botox, filler, and the like just to fit in or book a job. (And for the record, her latest character in Civil War, is anything but a sad mom.)

Dunst’s non-conformist tendencies go way back. Before the carrot dangled in front of her was agelessness, it was straighter teeth or a more innocent-looking appearance. When she starred in Spider-Man, a producer took her to the dentist without warning and suggested she get some cosmetic work done. “I was like, ‘No, I like my teeth,’” she recalled to British GQ. Then, on the red carpet, she was asked to wear lighter colors and appear less “goth.” “I was never that girl. I never did it,” she said.

Now, she’s up against the titan of all appearance-related pressures, to look young, and she’s not budging. “I still know to this day, I’m not gonna screw up my face and look like a freak. You know what I mean?” she said. “I’d rather get old and do good roles.”

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Dunst doesn’t envy those who look younger or those who actually are, who are growing up in the age of social media, where the opportunity for comparison is everywhere. “I feel great. And they’re so worried about their brand, right?” she said. “It’s so weird. Even filtering your face and all that stuff.”

She continued: “I don’t know. Everyone’s got to put their own opinion on you. That’s not really up to me to figure out or care about. Most people are projecting something. I have always pretty much been myself and I think that’s maybe confusing people because I can’t fake it.”

And there’s nothing wrong with that.

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Kayla Blanton

Kayla Blanton is a freelance writer-editor who covers health, nutrition, and lifestyle topics for various publications including Prevention, Everyday Health, SELF, People, and more. She’s always open to conversations about fueling up with flavorful dishes, busting beauty standards, and finding new, gentle ways to care for our bodies. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ohio University with specializations in women, gender, and sexuality studies and public health, and is a born-and-raised midwesterner living in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband and two spoiled kitties.