MEAWW.COM / NEWS / CELEBRITY NEWS

Who is Kirsten Dunst's mother? Outrage at revelation actress kissed Brad Pitt, 31, on screen when she was 11

Inez Ruppercht was a former Lufthansa flight attendant, artist, and one-time gallery owner

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Kirsten Dunst has been making headlines once again after her remarks about kissing Brad Pitt at the age of 11 resurfaced on the internet. The 41-year-old actress had just entered showbiz when she was cast alongside Pitt and Tom Cruise in 1994’s gothic film ‘Interview with a Vampire’, which captured her portraying the role of a 10-year-old girl named Claudia who was turned into a vampire by Louis de Pointe du Lac and Lestat de Lioncourt.

The 1994 blockbuster came out to be a turning point in Dunst’s career but filming the movie wasn’t a wholly positive experience for her. The adaptation of the same-titled book by Anne Rice featured a controversial scene where Claudia had to kiss Louis, making then-31-year-old Pitt lock-lips with Dunst, who was just 11 years old. In a previous interview, which is not circulating on TikTok, the ‘Spiderman’ actor expressed how ‘awkward’ she felt during the kissing scene because Pitt was “a man so why would I enjoy kissing him?”

'She was so calm and rational'

After being questioned about it again, the then-12-year-old reiterated her stance saying ''Brad is 31, I mean, he's not exactly a boy.'' Many TikTok users called the movie ‘'wild’' as they thought it was '‘crazy'’ that a child was allowed to kiss someone who is 20 years older than her, according to Daily Mail. "The fact that she had to explain?" one user said. "They expected her to have a different answer?" the second user said while the third wrote, “What does Brad Pitt think of it? She had to explain TWICE." "She's so well-spoken at that age and pretty fearless." Another asked, "Why did they push it, she was so calm and rational."

Who is Kirsten Dunst’s mother?

Dunst has time and again credited her mother Inez Rupprecht for pushing her to pursue a career in acting. Ruppercht was a former Lufthansa flight attendant, artist, and one-time gallery owner. She divorced Dunst’s father in 1995 and moved to Los Angeles, with the actress and her brother. The ‘Bring it On’ star was only three years old when she landed her first commercial break, thanks to her mother. Previously, she told the Guardian that Rupprecht decided she was "destined to be an actress" because she was always a happy child.

However, there was also a time when Dunst was struggling to cope with her rising fame and blamed her mother for pushing her into acting as a child. But that period didn’t last long as she soon realized that her mother "always had the best intentions." During an interview with Marie Claire UK in August 2015, she also praised her mother for giving her a ''normal'' upbringing. "Being a child actress can really be unhealthy for your psyche. But my mom always sent me to a normal school, so I never missed out on the prom or field trips or any of that stuff."