Before graduating high school, Dunst had a string of hits including Little Women, Jumanji, Wag the Dog and Small Soldiers. But it was her work in Sofia Coppola's directorial debut The Virgin Suicides (1999) that proved she could tackle more adult roles.
Dunst continued her string of successes with the comedy Bring It On, Crazy/Beautiful (in which she played a manic-depressive), The Cat's Meow and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (opposite Jim Carrey). Her portrayal of comic book heroine Mary Jane Watson in the Spider-Man movies brought her worldwide fame.