Pastel, manic, and coquette are the few things that go through one’s mind when thinking about Kirsten Dunst. Her long career has been appreciated by many young women going through life, including the new generation. Whether it is from “Bring It On” or “The Virgin Suicides,” you have probably heard of Dunst one way or another.

Dunst started her career in commercials at a very young age. Then, at the age of 12 years old, she starred as Claudia in “Interview with a Vampire,’’ proving that she can act with other actors and can hold her place as one. After the film “Interview with a Vampire,” she played Amy in “Little Women (1994).” She felt such enjoyment while playing with the older women, and she really looked up to them.

There are multiple sides to her career, but the main sides that people see are the “girl next door” and the “melancholy” sides. When viewing her girl next door tropes, there is a softer side and more upbeat feeling to it; these are seen in her “Bring It On” and “Drop Dead Gorgeous” roles. She was then viewed as the “ditsy” type because of the “chick flick” genre she did as a teen and was perceived that way throughout her career by certain demographics.

A little later on in her career, she worked with Sofia Coppola. Director Sofia Coppola made Dunst her muse in films such as “The Virgin Suicides” and “Marie Antoinette.” The films inform the audience of the femininity and the mental aspects of a woman. When discussing her role as Lux in “The Virgin Suicides,” Dunst states that the “atmosphere that she (Sofia Coppola) created on set always felt very authentic, which helped with the realness, with the way we all were feeling with the realness of the actual scenes.”

Years after filming the “The Virgin Suicides,” and many other projects, she stared in the film “Melancholia.” “Melancholia” was one of the several highly emotional roles that Dunst has played that depicted how mental health would affect a person as they lived on after a difficult experience and how emotions could be viewed as beautiful. Though fictional, it intrigues and captivates the women that watch her movies, especially the ones who relate to some of the films. In each film, Dunst plays a different character, but each character comes with high and complex emotions that represent just a small look into a woman’s emotions.

Despite having many fans, Dunst has said, “I’ve never been recognized in my industry.”

Kirsten Dunst is now 41 and has continued to grow and evolve with every role she takes. She is truly an underrated actress and though you might only see her as the girl from “Bring It On” or the girl from “Spider-Man”, there is much more to her career than you think.