Hollywood actor Kirsten Dunst covers the September 2025 issue of Town & Country [IG], interviewed by Mickey Rapkin in ‘Cool Girl Colossus’. Dunst is styled by Deborah Afshani in images by Tina Tyrell [IG].

Kirsten Dunst stars in the 2025 movie ‘Roofman’, in which she plays a woman who forms a relationship with a criminal hiding out in a Toys ‘R’Us. Channing Tatum plays the criminal, Jeffrey Manchester, who escapes from prison and lives undetected in the toy store for months, but falls for Dunst's character, Leigh.

‘Roofman’ is based on a true story. If you have some warped vision of a nice Chrismas storyline in ‘Roofman’, watch the trailer.

Dunst and Coppola

In her Town & Country interview, Dunst reveals that she just finished reading a script for director Sofia Coppola’s latest film project. Ahead of the September 2025 issue release, Coppola praised and affirmed Dunst's creative vision, saying “Kirsten makes cool choices. She’s never hokey. She can be fully sincere and in touch with emotions without ever being embarrassing," she said. "I love working with her and I know she gets me, and I’m excited for her to be the age she is now…I feel like she’s in her Gena Rowlands age and can do complex roles.”

AOC is never big on chit chat interviews. This one by Mickey Rapkin is not that. Given the moment we are living in, I can’t resist spinning out of the narrative and into a deeper look into the Dunst and Coppola collaborations.

Just this weekend, a close friend called me her top ‘knowledge influencer’, so let’s take that moniker for a spin.

Kirsten Dunst and Sofia Coppola have collaborated on four feature films: The Virgin Suicides [1999], Marie Antoinette [2006], The Bling Ring [2013], and The Beguiled [2017]. Dunst starred in the first three films and had a cameo in the fourth.

A Shallow Dive into ‘Marie Antoinette’

Sofia Coppola's 2006 film, in which Kirsten Dunst played Marie Antoinette, is experiencing a significant re-evaluation by audiences. Initially met with mixed reviews and even boos at the Cannes Film Festival, it is now widely appreciated for its style and unique take on the historical genre.

The once-characterized as ‘divisive’ film is morphing into a cult classic.

The Initial Criticism

When the movie was released, critics and some audiences were polarized by its unconventional approach to a period drama. Points of contention included:

Historical inaccuracies: Coppola chose to portray the young queen's personal life and emotions rather than focusing on strict historical detail. This angered some viewers, particularly French journalists.

Anachronistic soundtrack: The film's modern, post-punk soundtrack, featuring bands like The Strokes, The Cure, and New Order, was criticized for breaking historical immersion.

Focus on style over substance: Reviewers accused the film of prioritizing lavish costumes and cinematography over plot and character development.

Why the Film Is Getting a Second Look

Like so many topics in global culture, the aspects that initially drew criticism have become the very reasons for Coppola’s ‘Marie Antoinette’ film's resurgence in popularity.

One of the most controversial French-led obsessions — the 1962 film adaptation of ‘Lolita’ by Stanley Kubrick — continues to contribute to global culture discord. In a Jeffrey Epstein world, ‘Lolita’ may also get another look, with a predictable outcome not in its favor.

‘Marie Antoinette’ is not in this league of truly subversive — or piled on by small-minded, ignorant people — movies.

A "coming-of-age" narrative: The movie is now viewed as an empathetic coming-of-age story about a teenage girl trapped in a gilded cage. The anachronisms and focus on her internal world help modern viewers relate to her loneliness and isolation.

Visual and aesthetic influence: With its pastel-drenched cinematography, Oscar-winning costume design, and overall dreamy aesthetic, the film has become a major source of inspiration for fashion, photography, and art.

It’s true that even AOC has used images from the film — properly credited, of course — to support Anne’s writing on multiple topics.

Rebellion against expectations: Many now appreciate how the movie intentionally subverts the stiff, traditional costume drama genre. The use of modern music and a sympathetic portrayal of the queen serves as a fresh, feminist reinterpretation of her life.

Reconsideration of Coppola's intent: As Coppola's wider filmography has been reassessed, so too has ‘Marie Antoinette’. Audiences and critics have a better understanding of her signature style, which often focuses on the intimate lives of lonely, introspective characters.

Celebration of its unique style: Rather than being a flaw, the blend of modern and period elements is now seen as the film's greatest strength. It creates a visually and tonally distinct experience that has earned it a devoted cult following.

Kirstin Dunst’s Response to Criticisms of ‘Marie Antoinette’

During the film's press conferences and interviews, Dunst defended her portrayal of Marie Antoinette in the movie and Sofia Coppola's artistic vision, particularly in response to the backlash and the mixed reception at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.

Key points from Dunst's responses include:

Artistic intent over historical accuracy. When asked about the historical liberties taken, Dunst noted that the film was "a history of feelings, rather than a history of facts". She emphasized that the film was a character study meant to show Marie Antoinette's inner emotional life and her feelings of isolation.

Defending against the booing at Cannes. Following the film's negative reception at Cannes, Dunst stated that she was not bothered by the booing because the movie was not made for the critics. She explained, "Of course I care, but I care that my friends love it, and people whose opinions I respect. I remember first seeing it and loving it. I was so proud".

Focus on the female perspective. Dunst supported director Sofia Coppola's focus on portraying Marie Antoinette's coming-of-age story from a personal, feminine perspective. She praised Coppola's ability to tell stories about young women and provide a perspective that was an "antidote to Hollywood".

Comparison to her own experiences. Dunst has also drawn parallels between her own experience as a young actress in the public eye and Marie Antoinette's, relating to the feeling of being thrust into a prominent position at a young age.

Late Emerging Criticism of Economic and Racial Realities in ‘Marie Antoinette’

While there was no serious race-related pushback against the film initially, over time Coppola’s preoccupation with a “privileged white woman’s problems” has become a source of criticism. Even agreeing that Marie Antoinette can be viewed universally, critics and students both insist that Coppola’s world of women is white and preferably rich.

The film was criticized for its sympathetic portrayal of the young queen, minimizing her detachment from the suffering of the French people and reducing the French Revolution to a backdrop. Some saw this treatment as Coppola, a child of privilege herself, sympathizing with another wealthy, out-of-touch women.

When the director’s 2017 film ‘The Beguiled’ was released sans the Black characters who were present in the original source material, there was nothing that white women like Anne could say with conviction. Coppola was either clueless or deliberate in her decision to cast only white people in the film, according to critics.

Neither explanation was acceptable in 2017, three years before all hell broke loose with the televised murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

In the AOC archives is major criticism in 2018 of luxury brand Prada’s ‘Pradamalia’ collection that sure looked like blackface to Anne.

By their own admission, Prada had gone from 1997 to 2018, without using a Black model to open one of its fashion show. The fabulous supermodel Anok Yai solved that ‘fairness’ challenge, with a little help from her friends. AOC was proudly in the trenches on that event.

My point is that the idea of not writing Black charcters out of movies was not a hush, hush topic when ‘The Beguiled’ decision was made. And Prada was not alone. As always AOC tried to walk both sides of the issue while being honest about the facts. When Gucci was getting creamed over a jacket that Beyonce had already worn at a photo-op, AOC cried foul.

Anne was Hit with an Intellectual Brick in 2011

This reality of emerging perceptions about the fault lines between white women and all women of color hit Anne like a bulldozer at a Hunter College conference in October 2011, marking the 20th anniversary of the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings and Anita Hill’s role in trying to stop the Thomas train in its tracks.

I was stunned after changing my press seat at the event, moving instead to sit with the students in the balcony. When Gloria Steinem introduced her close, forever friend Anita Hill, I was the only person among the students, who clapped for Steinem.

My heart was breaking in that moment — to understand with clarity just how deep the fissures had become regarding the perceived role of white women in the oppression of global people of color on every continent in our world.

Fair or not, it was my observed reality that the Hunter students in my seating vicinity in the balcony loathed Gloria Steinem. Our fractures have only become deeper at a time when we can’t win without being focused on the biggest sources of danger to American democracy.

It’s not the big, bad white woman who is a racist, privileged creature, no matter what she says in public. You can turn her into a caricature in a workout class, and punch away to release your frustration and aggression. But she is not your real problem in life.

There are plenty of racist, white women but I’m not one of them. Nor is Abigail Spanberger running for governor of my Virginia, with mail-in voting starting in a couple weeks. Nor is Mikie Sherrill running for governor of New Jersey in 2025’s other critical election.

Nor are countless Independents and Republicans who are horrified about what they are watching in Trump’s America. They are actually on your side — if you share a more global view of humanity.

I’m far more worried about our young people’s votes than countless Americans who are voting for both Spanberger and Sherrill, and they are not registered Democrats and don’t support every policy plank of the party.

America’s young progressives can hang tough and condemn us all from Sofia Coppola to Dunst to Spanberger to Sherrill and me, because it feels great. Or they can go down in history as the voters who saved American democracy. You decided not to show up last November 2024, and I’ve heard all the reasons why.

There’s a note of irony of where director Sofia Coppola’s film ‘Marie Antoinette’ has ended up in this new MAGA war on academia.

Based on its themes and frequent analysis, Sofia Coppola's 2006 film ‘Marie Antoinette’ starring Kirstin Dunst continues to be used in university courses, particularly in those related to gender, class, and critical media studies. The film's intentional anachronisms and focus on the Queen's isolated perspective make it a subject of critical discussion, even if it is not typically part of standard diversity curricula focusing on race and ethnicity.

Much like ‘Lolita’, conversations about the film pop up when you least expect them. With all the anti-DEI sentiment being professed by the Trump Administration, the fact that ‘Marie Antoinette’ operates outside this curriculum may become a blessing in disguise and a way to keep intellectual dialogue alive.

Because there is no free thinking in the rope Maga intends to throw around American minds of every age. Think about that fact, my young Americans. You will live with this horror show far longer than I will. And do have a great day while finding a moment to consider my fundamental argument with you.

At the very least, please tell me how to fix this breakdown between us, so we’ve got a shot at insuring your future. Inspired by your potential to do great things. ~ Anne