Kirsten Dunst co-star Tom Cruise 'rooting' for her in her 1994 breakout role

Kirsten Dunst’s breakout role in Interview with the Vampire when she was just 11 years old came with an unexpected supporter: Tom Cruise.

In a 2021 interview with Netflix, the Oscar-nominated actress, 42, opened up about how the Hollywood superstar seemed to be rooting for her from the start, even offering small tips to help her stand out in auditions.

Recalling a memorable screen test where the Top Gun actor had to pick her up, Dunst shared, “I was the tallest girl, and [Tom] whispered to me, like, ‘Tuck your legs under,’ so I’d look as tiny as possible.” The connection felt significant to her, she noted, as the two were both New Jersey natives. “I think, you know, he was like, ‘Let this Jersey girl have it.’”

Dunst went on to land the role of the young vampire Claudia, joining Cruise and Brad Pitt in what would become a box office hit. Looking back, she remembers Cruise’s kindness during filming — like the time he decorated her dressing room with a Christmas tree at Pinewood Studios. "I remember going into my dressing room... and he’d set up a beautiful tree in there for me,” she previously told The Telegraph.

Despite their high-wattage status, both Cruise and Pitt treated her “like a little sister,” Dunst recalled. “They were very sweet to me," she once told Stephen Colbert on The Late Show, adding that it was this warmth and encouragement that made her feel at ease on the largely male set.