Star Trek is one of the most popular sci-fi franchises in the world and has attracted many actors to its shows and films. While many actors such as Patrick Stewart, William Shatner, and Brent Spiner would go on to be global stars, others in far less prominent roles also made it in the industry.
One such actor was Spider-Man star Kirsten Dunst, who appeared as Hedril in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The actress was just twelve when she appeared on the show as the alien who shares a mentee/daughter-like relationship with Majel Barrett’s Lwaxana Troi. Dunst also appeared in her breakout role in Interview with the Vampire in the same year.
Kirsten Dunst Appeared In A Guest Role In Star Trek: The Next Generation When She Was 12
Kirsten Dunst is perhaps best known for her role as Mary Jane Watson in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy starring Tobey Maguire. While she played the perfect yet complex love interest of Maguire’s Peter Parker in the films, her performance as the damsel in distress received much criticism in later years.
While her breakthrough role came in the form of Interview with the Vampire in which she starred along with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt and received a Golden Globe nomination, she appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation in the same year. Playing Hedril in the final season of the show, Dunst was only twelve when she appeared in a guest role.
In the episode ‘Dark Page’, the actress played a Cairn child who accompanies her father Maques to the Enterprise. Belonging to a species that can only communicate telepathically, Hedril becomes the star pupil of Lwaxana Troi who is training the Cairn species in the spoken language.
The episode was the last appearance of Majel Barrett as Lwaxana Troi, the mother of Deanna Troi. Dunst’s Hedril is shown to remind Lwaxana of her eldest daughter, Kestra, who had passed away. Lwaxana falls into a coma due to the telepathic communication taking a toll on her in addition to Hedril’s presence bringing up the trauma.
Kirsten Dunst Began Acting When She Was A Toddler
Most known for her role in the Spider-Man films, Kirsten Dunst moved away from the blockbusters and began starring in multiple indie and mid-budget films in the 2010s. She worked with acclaimed directors such as Sofia Coppola, Lars von Trier, Michel Gondry, and Jane Campion. She recently starred in Alex Garland’s Civil War.
While Dunst had her breakout role in Interview with the Vampire, she reportedly began acting when she was a toddler. She was reportedly even on Saturday Night Live in 1988 at the age of six. She broke down her career in a video for Vanity Fair,
I was three years old in the grocery store. And people would come up to my mom and be like, ‘Your kid’s cute. You should put her in like child acting or modeling.’ And we were in New Jersey. And so, I signed with the Ford Modeling Agency as a little girl.
The actress mentioned that she booked a Kix commercial and then went on to star with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in the aforementioned gothic horror film.
Star Trek: The Next Generation is available to stream on Paramount+.
