Kirsten Dunst Wants to Show You...(Interview)

...Her sexy side, from hot movie roles to a majorly successful MO with men. One thing's for sure: This former ingenue is now a leading lady and loving it.

* When Kirsten Dunst had to shoot her first sex scene ever for her upcoming film Crazy/Beautiful, she found the experience to l)e anything but erotic. "I had these little pasties over my boobs--it was horrible," remembers the 18-year-old actress, whose exposure embarrassment was rivaled by that of her onscreen bedmate. "My costar, Jay Hernandez, was so uncomfortable about doing the scene that his nervousness actually made it easier for me to handle. Finally, I was like 'Okay, let's just do this!'"

If you find Kirsten's take-charge attitude toward her initial between-the-sheets shoot surprising, you're not alone. Even the film's director, John Stockwell, was stunned at how completely the actress--known for good-girl parts in films like last fall's cheerfest Bring It On and the beauty pageant mock-documentary Drop Dead Gorgeous--dove into her part. "She wasn't pulling up the sheet or asking 'Is my ass showing?'" Stockwell says. "This woman, who can come off so prim and proper, turned out to be more than able to adopt the attitude of a girl who takes control. People who are expecting the Kirsten from Bring It On are going to he in for a big shock."

And that's exactly the response the starlet is hoping for. Having recently graduated from high school, the actress is ready to leave teen life behind onscreen as well. And with Crazy/Beautiful, a drama about a provocative teenage girl who parties hard and is at times a bad influence on the young Latino who falls in love with her, Kirsten makes that transition with head-turning results. (The impressive performance comes on the heels of her latest film, Get Over It, a romantic comedy loosely based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Nights Dream.) She also recently wrapped filming of The Cat's Meow, about a legendary scandal involving William Randolph Hearst, in which she plays silent-film star Marion Davies. And she is currently shooting the much buzzed-about Spider-Man--Kirsten gets to be the webbed one's love interest, opposite It-Guy actor Tobey Maguire.

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Though many young stars would buckle under the pressure of such a rapid-fire filming pace, Kirsten thrives on it, perhaps because it's the way things have always been for her. Starting at the age of 3, Kirsten, a New Jersey native, made more than 100 commercials before her 12th birthday. (Her father, Klaus, a medical-services executive, has them all on tape.) "My mom and I would drive into New York City every day after school," remembers Kirsten. "After the auditions, we'd drive home, and I'd do my homework in the backseat of the car."

That was the routine until 1994, when 12-year-old Kirsten appeared opposite Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in Interview With the Vampire. She received rave reviews and a Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal of Claudia, a grown-up vampire trapped in the body of a young girl. And though it's hard to imagine now, she needed some coaching to pull off her ultraseductive performance. "It's kind of hard to tell a little girl, 'Go look sexy at Brad Pitt,'" she says.