Well, I had made a name for myself before “Spider-Man.” It’s not like that’s it. But that fulfills me in certain ways and then you’ve got to venture out and do other things, too. So I mean, I love making that movie for the reason that I make it, but then you have to venture out and do other things too.
Do you have to make a different impact now?
I don’t really worry about what I’m putting in other people’s minds though. All I worry about is when I’m on the set, how [is] that experience. That’s what I love to do. I don’t really think about I have to change other people’s perspectives of me and do a really whatever, play a killer because this way people won’t think that I’m just cute or something like that. So I just do what I am moved by and then I think that if you’re honest about that and you give a performance that people respond to, then… I try not to be just one-dimensional in movies anyway.
What was your experience working in the Wimbledon stadium?
Well, [Paul] walked on the court with all the crowds from, you know, during the games. So he had a totally different experience from me. They were filming him step out and the actual Wimbledon crowd was there cheering him on. That’s something that’s lived in him his whole childhood. Like for me, I live here and so it hasn’t been ingrained in me like it has in him. But I definitely felt the weight of this arena and it was an honor to be allowed to step on it and shoot on it. It was kind of weird in the beginning. But for him…I mean, if I had gone out there with the crowd, I probably would have cried. It just overtakes you when a whole stadium is cheering for you. It’s just really overwhelming, for sure.
Do you use your own life to get into character?
I just used myself and my feelings, but I don’t say, “I remember that time when that happened and I’m pissed.” I don’t use my life. I try to be as present as I can, and all those experiences are there because they’re in me. But I don’t think about them to use for a scene.
Did you volley with Venus and Serena Williams? What advice did they give you?
Serena was supposed to come down one of the days but she was busy practicing. They’re busy girls. They are. I mean, what I really wanted to know, and I talked to her a few times, and it just seemed like a really lonely life. I watched a match between her and her sister and I can’t imagine how complicated that must be. I really felt a lot of, like, they’re just normal really cool girls and I can’t imagine the stuff they have to go through together as a family. It must be really hard.
Could you take them?
Yeah, right. I’d be afraid. I’d be so afraid. I’d be just crouching in the corner. They’d probably kill me with their serve.
Was it challenging playing without balls?
Yeah, we did that on the aerial shots where we had to be in certain positions or [with] the camera above us. Or there’s this one crane shot where they go from Paul’s court to my court and so we had to be in certain places. I don’t have the skills to put it in the spot every time or anything like that, but I definitely would hit it for any close-up, because it’s really hard not to make contact and make it look believable. So the only times we used that, or I used that, was when it had to be specific. But otherwise, it was really not satisfying. It was really hard to pretend that.
What sort of rumblings have you heard about “Spider-Man 3?”
Rumblings? (Laughing) Well, I agreed to do three when I did the first one, so I always knew I was going to do a third movie. I know we’re probably going to shoot it next fall, fall of 2005, but I don't know anything about it yet.
There were the rumors of a separation from your mother. How is your relationship now?
That totally got blown out of proportion by the way. It was totally about just any normal mother-daughter relationship, you’ve got to separate a little bit. And they made it like, “Kirsten Dunst is separated from her mother.” I’m 22 years old. All I’m saying is that I’m doing my own thing now and that’s healthy and normal.
Did your mother push you into showbiz too early?
Obviously, I started at a very young age, but I totally enjoyed performing for people. For me, it was more like, “Well, why does a kid like performing for people?” I was really good at it, people responded to me and you love love and attention. It might not be the right love and attention, it might not be real love and attention, but I’m not angry with my mother for it. I’m compassionate and I see her side of things too. It’s different now for me and yeah, I look back and I’m like that movie, I probably shouldn’t have done it. But we were all learning. I had no strong people around me. We all were kind of naïve going into all of this stuff. It was not like we were super in the industry in any way. You’re going to make mistakes.
