Keeping up with KIRSTEN

The star talks to James Mottram about her new role in Jane Campion’s ‘The Power of the Dog’, parenting and why she’s never loved acting more

I have goosebumps, I’m so tired,” says Kirsten Dunst, gesturing at her arm. The actress famed for roles in Marie Antoinette and Melancholia is fighting jetlag after flying into Italy from the US. But the chance to walk the red carpet at the Venice Film Festival premiere of her exhilarating new movie The Power of the Dog – the latest from The Piano director Jane Campion – is worth the lack of shut-eye. She only wishes Jesse Plemons, her co-star, partner and father of their two young sons, could be here too, but he’s currently filming. “This would have been a really nice treat for us both,” she sighs.