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Kirsten Dunst had an awkward kissing scene with ‘brother’ Brad Pitt when he was 30 and she was 12

Kirsten Dunst called her kiss with Brad Pitt in “gross” and said it was a very awkward experience

Kirsten Dunst's breakout performance in ‘Interview with the Vampire’ is always remembered as her most iconic scene. At the tender age of 12 years, she proved to be equally good alongside other Hollywood stars Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in this gothic horror film released in 1994. But the scene that stays in her mind from the film is not that artistic, but rather how awkwardly and uncomfortably it made her as a child star. In the movie, Dunst playing the role of a young girl turned vampire shares her first kiss with Louis, portrayed by Brad Pitt. The whole thing was made to depict a sense of complication through Claudia, and it did just that - the scene would prove to be very far from romantic for young Dunst herself, as reflected many years later by herself, as gross.

“That was disgusting. I'm sticking to that, too,” Dunst said in an ‘Entertainment Tonight’ interview. “It would have been so much creepier if I'd said, ‘It was great.’ People would think, ‘What's wrong with this kid?’” At the time, Pitt was 31 years old, and Dunst saw him more like a big brother than anything else. “At that point, I was just a little girl. He was like a big brother to me, so it was very weird,” she said to ‘Vanity Fair’. Though it was just a quick peck on the cheek, Dunst said it made her feel awkward and out of place. “I wasn't into it at all,” she admitted.

Despite the unease of that scene, Dunst's performance in ‘Interview with the Vampire’ earned her critical acclaim. She portrayed Claudia's childlike innocence and centuries-old wisdom with incredible depth, making her one of the standout stars of the film. Tom Cruise, who played the vampire Lestat, played a big role in helping Dunst land the part. He even tells her in an interview with Netflix how during the auditions for this film, Cruise would whisper to her to tuck her legs under so she looks tinier and smaller compared to the other girls.

“I remember Tom whispering, ‘Tuck your legs under so you look tinier,’” Dunst shared. His support didn't end there. Throughout filming, Cruise went out of his way to make her feel comfortable. One time, he brought her a fully decorated Christmas tree into her dressing room. If Dunst looks back on her filming experience, she is torn between those surreal moments and the support from her co-stars. “They treated me like a little sister,” she says. “I was very innocent, and they were really sweet to me.”

Even Brad Pitt wasn’t spared from this ordeal. This is because according to him, in an interview with ‘Variety’, it was director Neil Jordan who explained why Brad Pitt had the worst experience in filming the movie. “I think the problem he faced was that the role itself wasn't very rewarding,” Jordan explained. Pitt played Louis, a brooding vampire who spends most of the film grappling with guilt and misery over his new, bloodthirsty existence. Unlike Tom Cruise's flashy and charismatic role as Lestat, Louis was more passive, which left Pitt feeling frustrated.

When Pitt talked to ‘Entertainment Weekly years ago, he didn't hold back his feelings. The interviewer pointed out that Pitt looked miserable throughout the film, and Pitt agreed, saying it was one of the hardest shoots of his career.

“It was six months in the fucking dark,” Pitt said, describing the constant night shoots and gloomy atmosphere. He also confessed his character was confined. “I was playing the bitch role,” Pitt joked on how Louis tended to be all the time around Lestat but never able to make their own decisions. That long, challenging production was demanding, and has no secrets from that Pitt, since he openly expresses it wasn't a fun filming experience for him.

While the kiss with Pitt remains a memorable-if awkward-part of her Hollywood debut, ‘Interview with the Vampire’ cemented Kirsten Dunst as a rising star. The film, adapted from Anne Rice's novel, went on to become a cult classic, and Dunst's performance as Claudia is still praised for its maturity and depth. For Dunst, it was not just a movie experience but rather a journey through the Hollywood maze as a child. And though that kiss might still make her cringe, it is a small part of the larger story of her incredible journey to stardom.