Kirsten Dunst Opens Up on ‘Very Extreme’ Pay Gap for Spider-Man Movies

Original



Spider-Man
trilogy
star
Kirsten
Dunst
has
spoken
out
about
the
pay
she
received
for
her
work
in
the
popular
superhero
movies.
Alongside
Tobey
Maguire
as
Peter
Parker,
Dunst
starred
in
those
movies
as
Mary
Jane
Watson.
While
she’s
not
the
titular
character
suiting
up
to
fight
crime,
she
does
play
a
very
large
part
in
the
story
and
it
could
be
argued
that
she’s
just
as
important.

In
any
case,
while
those

Spider-Man
movies
were
huge
hits
at
the
box
office,
Dunst
says
she
didn’t
see
much
of
those
earnings.
In
a
new
interview
with
The
Independent,
the
actress
describes
the
pay
gap
between
what
she
earned
and
the
number
on
Maguire’s
paycheck
as “very
extreme”.
At
the
time,
however,
Dunst
admits
she
didn’t
give
it
too
much
thought,
but
she
can’t
help
but
question
it
now,
looking
at
how
prominently
she
was
featured
in
the
movies
and
their
marketing
materials.

“The

pay
disparity
between
me
and
Spider-Man
was
very
extreme.
I
didn’t
even
think
about
it.
I
was
just
like, ‘Oh
yeah,
Tobey
is
playing
Spider-Man.’
But
you
know
who
was
on
the
cover
of
the
second ‘Spider-Man’
poster?
Spider-Man
and
ME.”

It
wasn’t
just
the
pay
disparity
that
affected
Dunst’s
experience
filming
the

Spider-Man
movies.
In
her
Independent
interview,
the
actress
also
details
how
she
was
just
19
years
old
when
she
was
asked
by
a
producer
to
have
her
teeth
fixed.
The
request
was
apparently
sprung
onto
the
young
actress
by
surprise
when
she
was
literally
driven
to
the
dentist’s
office.
Even
with
this
immense
pressure
to
have
her
teeth
adjusted
right
then
for
the
sake
of
the
role,



Kirsten
Dunst
drew
a
line
and
refused
to
get
out
of
the
car.

“I
was
like, ‘Mmmmm,
no,
I
like
my
teeth.’
Also,
Sofia
[Coppola]
loved
my
teeth.
The
fact
that
the
coolest
girl
liked
how
I
looked,
that’s
what
preserved
me.

She
made
me
feel
pretty.
As
a
16-year-old
girl,
you
feel
like
crap
about
yourself,
right?
So
to
have
my
first
experience
of
a
more ‘sexy’
role
be
through
her
eyes
gave
me
a
confidence
that
helped
me
deal
with
a
lot
of
other
things.”

Dunst
refers
to
her
collaborations
with
Sofia
Coppola,
which
started
with
Coppola
casting
a
then
16-year-old
Dunst
in

The
Virgin
Suicides.
The
fact
that
Coppola,
who
recently
described
Dunst
as
the “top
actress
of
her
age,”
was
such
a
fan
of
Dunst
as
she
was
had
made
quite
the
impression
on
the
teenager.
Ultimately,
Dunst
never
did
have
her
teeth
altered,
though
the
final
version
of
the

Spider-Man
2
poster
did
have
her
teeth
digitally
edited.

These
qualms
aside,
Kirsten
Dunst
is
still
very
much
open
to
returning
to
the
role
of
Mary
Jane
if
the
opportunity
presents
itself.
It’s
no
secret
that
Tobey
Maguire
is
heavily
rumored
to
appear
as
Peter
Parker
in

Spider-Man:
No
Way
Home,
and
there
have
also
been
rumors
Dunst
could
appear
as
Mary
Jane
as
well.
None
of
this
has
been
officially
confirmed,
but
last
year,
Dunst
did
tell
Variety
that
she
would “never
say
no
to
something
like
that,”
adding, “I’d
be
old
MJ
at
this
point
with
little
Spidey
babies.”

We’ll
see
what
happens
with
the
Spider-Verse
when

Spider-Man:
No
Way
Home
is
released
in
theaters
on
Dec.
17,
2021.
This
news
comes
to
us
from

The
Independent.