The power of Kirsten - I OWE IT ALL TO A KIWI!

Overlooked by her peers in the past, the star says ‘Bring it on’ to an Oscar

- Judy Kean

Kirsten Dunst was in bed watching early morning cartoons on TV with her kids when she got a phone call from her manager telling her that she’d finally been nominated for an Oscar. She couldn’t help herself – she burst into tears.

“The kids were a bit freaked out because they were like, ‘Why is Mummy crying?’” says Kirsten, recalling how her sons Ennis, three, and James, nine months, responded to her reaction to learning she was up for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role in The Power of the Dog.

But there was more to come. A short while later, her manager called back to let her know her fiancé Jesse Plemons – who was at work shooting a TV series – also had a nomination for his supporting role in the same film.

“I screamed,” confesses Kirsten, 39. “It was like I could release my joy more with Jesse’s nomination than my own for some reason. I hung up the phone, then one of my publicists called me because she was trying to tell me and I screamed at her.

“Then I called Jesse, and I was the first person to tell him, and he was a little shellshocked.”

Both getting Oscar nods for the same film – in which they play a married couple – is beyond exciting, says Kirsten. “It’s so crazy to be a couple and to have our first nominations together. It’s like a storybook. It feels amazing to have that as a family and for our families. Everyone is so excited.”