Kirsten Dunst may be one of the most underrated actors working today. Every role she takes, she brings smouldering intensity and a relatability that few can do so consistently. Rose in The Power of The Dog is no exception.
Starring alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons, and Kodi Smit-McPhee, Dunst plays a widow-turned-newlywed whose life is upended when she moves to the Burbank family ranch and encounters her hostile brother in law Phil (Cumberbatch). Fight as she might against his mind-games, she can't stop her son from falling into his company.
We spoke to Dunst about what it was like to play such a deeply troubled character, the special bond she had with her co-star Kodi Smit-McPhee, and the benefits of working on such an intense film with her partner.
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As a woman, I felt such deep empathy for Rose, for the position she finds herself in. Taking on that role, what was the most difficult thing to manage about the character?
Kirsten Dunst: The fact that I didn't really have scenes with anybody. I have to create this monster, and then psychologically make myself feel really insecure and horrible about myself. So it was kind of a painful place to live in when I was working.
It's not who I am. It's like a very old part of myself, so to bring up all this stuff that you kind of move past in your life can... it's just, yeah. Rose is so insecure, and it's a sad character to delve into.
How did you manage once the cameras stop rolling?
KD: I do think I was a little bit more worried about what I had done that day than I normally am. A little bit more insecure about what I had done, I think just because that [being insecure] was such a part of Rose.
But then, I think it's normal to just have a little bit of something... a current happening throughout filming. But when I'm done, then I'm done.
Did working with Jesse [Plemmons, her partner] help?
KD: It helped because you know I could have lunch with him when we were both there on the same day, or we could ride into work together – so there was a comfort there that I think was, it's so nice and also he's just my favourite actor to work with.
In terms of Rose's relationship with her son, how much of his internal life did you imagine Rose knew about?
KD: I think as a mother of a like a 16-year-old boy – boys don't talk to them about everything that's going on. I know she knows her son is different in a way; he's really into medical stuff and I think she's just like "I know he's different in this cowboy world" and that's worrisome because people kill people for being different.
So that is something that really is an anxiety for Rose when she gets to the ranch and she sees her son being taken by [Phil] and pulled away from her. I think there are so many things going through her head. 'What is he doing with my son?' And that is just terrifying, and then 'My son is going off, what is their relationship and is he going to kill me, what's going to happen to my son?'
So that is a source of a tonne of anxiety. There is a deep connection between her, and her son, and Kodi [Smit-McPhee], and I had a secret together while we were filming – so that, you know, we did have this strange other-level of bond that connected us really deeply in a different way.
In Rose's interaction with the Native American man who wants to buy the hide, you could really feel the internal tension she has. How did you conceive of that scene and what it meant to her?
KD: [The scene was about] Showing her human kindness, like, a real just like a soul connection and also [her wondering] why is he [Phil] being so wasteful with the hide. She finally has the courage to stand up to him in some kind of a way. And what she gets is kindness in return.
So I think that is high in her emotions of what she needs. She needs someone to hold her and take care of her. it's just the tipping point, physically she's kind of unwell at that point too so pushes her into that next phase.
The Power of the Dog is available in select cinemas from November 19 and on Netflix from December 1
Gabriella Geisinger is a freelance film critic and journalist, with a focus on J-drama & film, and the Japanese production industry. She was previously Locations Editor at Screen International and Deputy Movies Editor at Digital Spy. Her writing can also befound in Curzon, 1883, and more. A born and raised New Yorker, she loves coffee and the colour black, obviously.
