Formative Performances: Kirsten Dunst in “Little Women”

Happy Day 2 of Women’s History Month! For my second entry, I’d like to piggyback on abovethetitle‘s first guest post from yesterday (which I loved, by the way).

As we both mentioned, we’re talking about formative performances – the female performances that helped shape us into the women we are today.

I first talked about Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind because it was the first time I saw a woman completely dominate a movie. If I remember correctly, Scarlett is in almost every scene of this four-hour movie. She barely leaves the screen and she commands it every time. Scarlett is both larger than life and completely, irresistibly human. I love her SO much.

abovethetitle talked about Winona Ryder in Little Women, another performance that I put on my favorites list. Fierce, tomboyish Jo March is one of the characters that inspired me to be a writer, and I love Winona’s portrayal of her. But the 1994 adaptation of Little Women is also notable for introducing me to Kirsten Dunst.

If I were a professional actress, I wouldn’t mind having a career like Kirsten Dunst’s. She’s worked with interesting directors over the course of her career and played atypical “child actor” roles since she was a wee lass (Interview with the Vampire). She has a good eye for scripts. When she acts in a failure, the movie is (usually) at least an interesting failure, and even her teen movies tend to be better-than-average teen movies (Bring it On).

But really, I will always hold a soft spot for Kirsten Dunst because she made me like Amy March.

Remember Amy March? That vain little brat who burned Jo’s manuscript just because Jo didn’t want Amy tagging along on the double date with Laurie and John Brooke and Meg? Jo worked so hard in her writing and Amy threw it in the fire. I HATE HER.

But I don’t hate her when she’s played by Kirsten Dunst. How can I? Look at her:

She’s so excited to be in the same room with her big sisters as they prepare for Belle Gardiner’s party. She can’t wait to be grown-up like they are. When Jo accidentally burns some of Meg’s hair, Amy keeps a level head and finds a way to cover the spot. She has that same level head when Meg laments over her lack of suitors. “You don’t need scores of suitors. You only need one – if he’s the right one.”

After watching Little Women, Winona Ryder and Kirsten Dunst became two of The Actresses whose movies I always wanted to see. I mentally cast Dunst in every imaginary movie adaptation of every young adult novel I read (when I wasn’t casting myself, of course). All because she made me like Amy March.

Kiki, I congratulate you on your varied and interesting career and I was delighted to see you become one of the indie darlings. Thank you for making me find affection for the little girl who burned Jo’s book. That’s a Herculean feat, and you pulled it off. Well done.