Kirsten Dunst says 5-year-old son helped her run lines for 'Civil War': 'No dark dialogue!'

Kirsten Dunst is accustomed to having her films make headlines.

“I remember there was some controversy about ‘Interview With the Vampire,’ ” recalls the actress, who was just 11 when Brad Pitt kissed her on screen in the 1994 horror drama. Anne Rice, the book's author, famously bought an eight-page Variety insert with her exhaustive critique of the movie.

But that’s nothing compared to the frenzy around “Civil War” (in theaters Friday), which is set in the near future in a ravaged, divided United States, where party lines and ideologies are kept vague. Dunst plays a hardened photographer named Lee, who travels to Washington with an aspiring photojournalist (Cailee Spaeny) to follow rebel forces as they attempt to seize the White House and a despotic president (Nick Offerman).

The harrowing thriller has been embraced by critics but has also caused a stir on social media as people debate whether it’s “irresponsible” or “fear-mongering” for filmmaker Alex Garland to depict violence and secession in an already-polarizing election year. Dunst remains diplomatic about the movie, which is both apolitical and anti-war.  

“I feel very proud to have played Lee and that people feel the way they do about this film,” she says. “We took a big risk.”

Spaeny says she hopes "the hysteria" translates "to people buying tickets. I think once they actually sit down and watch this movie, it's very moving. The only answer to all this polarization is conversations."

"Civil War" is a big-screen reunion for Dunst, 41, and her husband, Jesse Plemons, who plays a small role as a barbaric soldier. The actors share two sons: Ennis, 5, and James, 2. The Oscar nominee, who "just cleaned up Easter stuff and toys" before hopping on the phone, tells us about the film and more: 

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Question: Reading the script, what was it about Lee that made you feel you needed to play her?

Answer: I didn't even think about the role. I just read the script like I was watching a film. It was so gripping and thought-provoking. I hadn't read anything like that before. Alex is a brilliant writer, so I was pretty impressed and terrified.

To play drunk in "The Power of the Dog," you said that Jesse would film video of you while out for drinks. Did he help you prep for this movie?

No, because I started the film before he joined the cast. When we were rehearsing, the actor that was supposed to play that role (dropped out), and it was like, “Well, Alex, Jesse’s here!” Jesse is very heavily into research. It was his idea to wear glasses in that scene, so he went around vintage stores in Atlanta and tried them all on for Alex. But on set, that whole scene is so intense that everyone left each other alone because it’s so emotional. We respectfully just gave each other space in order to film it.

How would you decompress after shooting particularly traumatic sequences?

My (youngest) son turned 1 on “Civil War,” so really, I'd just come home and put the boys to bed. When Jesse wasn’t there, my son Ennis would sleep with me and we’d eat barbecue chips in bed. I have a funny video of him helping me with my lines. I would be just like, “Say this, say this.” (Laughs.)

Which scenes were those?

Oh, not reading anything intense. No dark dialogue, obviously! Your life and your work meld a little bit, but it was nice to just have the comfort of sleeping in bed with my son on harder days.

Last fall, Sofia Coppola said how much it means to her that "Marie Antoinette" has finally found its audience after flopping at the box office. Have you noticed that, too?

Yes! At the time, the people who loved the film were younger and our age – not the older men reviewing it, you know? It was a more progressive and risky film, and I think (Coppola) being a female, maybe they felt threatened by her and her vision.

What do you think is your most underrated film?

I mean, “The Virgin Suicides” was a very special film and I don't recall that actually doing that well either. That was a real arthouse indie. I feel like a lot of the movies I did at the time are all liked now because I think I was doing it for the viewers that were my age and not for anyone else. (Laughs.) Now that everyone's grown up, it's like, "We like those movies!"

Is there something you're most excited to show your kids when they're older?

Aren't kids embarrassed by their parents that are actors? I mean, my older son liked “Jumanji” and now he’s over it. He doesn’t want to watch it anymore. And then my other son likes the first “Spider-Man,” but he just wants to watch the wrestling scene over and over again. I guess if I was going to pick something for our kids to watch, I’d show them “Fargo” Season 2 and be like, “This is where your parents met!”