Kirsten Dunst Once Revealed She Was Scared of Working With Director Lars von Trier
When actor Kirsten Dunst teamed up with director Lars von Trier, she admitted to feeling a bit nervous around the filmmaker. This was in large part due to von Trier’s questionable reputation.
Kirsten Dunst starred in Lars von Trier’s ‘Melancholia’
Melancholia was a 2011 movie about two sisters going through a challenging time personally while the world was headed for destruction. Dunst starred in the sometimes demanding filmmaker’s drama after hearing Trier was interesting in hiring her for a role. Two directors first recommended Trier to Dunst. Then von Trier and Dunst would have a meeting to determine if Dunst fit the part.
“We Skyped, and it was a really easygoing, nice meeting. We didn’t even talk about the script that much, and then our Skype connection got lost, and we called each other on the phone. It was really like the most simple—for the director that he is, it was like the easiest job that I got in so long, it was so simple, it was just like, ‘Yes, I’d love you to be in my movie.’ ‘Great, I’d love to be in it,'” Dunst once said on Interview.
Kirsten Dunst was scared of working with Lars von Trier
Although Dunst accepted von Trier’s offer, she admitted to feeling a bit intimidated working with him. Von Trier had a reputation that preceded him when it came to working with actors. As reported by The Guardian, actor Björk even vowed to never work in the film industry after working with von Trier. With the filmmaker’s reputation in mind, Dunst confided that she was a bit conflicted about collaborating with him herself.
“I was scared about working with Lars because everyone made such a big deal about how he tortures actresses,” Dunst once said on Virgin Media (via Digital Spy).
This would change, however, after Dunst spent time with von Trier. Doing so would help Dunst discover a side to the filmmaker that helped put her worries at ease.
“When I first got to know him I was shocked by the things he would say, but you don’t make the movies he makes with a PC personality. But what I found was a really sensitive, funny and kind director who was emotionally intuitive. He loves women,” she added.
Dunst also once theorized that von Trier’s mindset when they collaborated was another reason why she had an easier time.
“I think it probably had to do with where he was in his life. For us, I knew he was in a good place, so there wasn’t—yeah, he was really wonderful to work with,” she theorized.
Kirsten Dunst once believed Lars von Trier was really a nervous wreck deep down
Working with the Nymphomaniac director personally meant that Dunst got to know von Trier in a way that others didn’t. Whereas von Trier is known for being eccentric at times, Dunst believed the real von Trier was actually quite shy.
“He’ll say weird things to people or in conversation,” she said in a 2011 interview with Reuters. “And he’s nervous in front of press. I remember when he was posing in Cannes. He had gotten a tattoo [on his knuckles] that said ‘F***,’ and he was holding it out, but literally his hand was shaking when he was posing for pictures. This is the Lars that people don’t know. He’s doing these provocative things, but also he’s [a] nervous wreck up there.”
