Celebrity nicknames have been a thing for as long as anyone can remember, with the likes of Jennifer Lawrence’s “J-Law”, John Wayne’s “The Duke,” and Beyoncé’s “Queen Bey” quickly coming to mind. But did you know that Kirsten Dunst has had a nickname of her own since she was a young girl? On top of that, did you know that it is the same name as her titular character from the iconic Studio Ghibli movie, Kiki’s Delivery Service?
Here’s where things get interesting…
With Dunst having the nickname “Kiki,” you would assume it was inspired by the young witch she voiced in the 1998 English dub of Hayao Miyazaki’s classic animated film, right? Well, you’d be wrong, as the two have nothing to do with one another outside of being a wonderful coincidence. So, how did Dunst get that nickname if not from Kiki’s Delivery Service? Let me explain…
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Turns Out She Started Calling Herself Kiki Years Earlier
You know how everyone is constantly messing up Kirsten Dunst’s name and pronouncing it the wrong way? It turns out this isn’t just a problem for interviewers, fans, or colleagues, as Dunst herself used to have trouble saying her own name back when she was a young child. When speaking with ESPN’s Page 2 (RIP to a great and revolutionary force of the early 2000s internet) back in 2001, Dunst was asked how she got her nickname, to which she replied:
When I was little, I couldn’t say my name. I could only say ‘Kiki,’ and it stuck.
Though Dunst didn’t go into detail about the exact age at which she started using the nickname, it had to have been long before she provided the English voice in the 1998 dub of Kiki’s Delivery Service. Though the original Japanese version of the delightful animated movie about a young witch finding her place in the world came out a decade earlier, the actress has never implied the two were connected or anything more than pure coincidence.
Kirsten Dunst Has Even Used It On Set
Though Kirsten Dunst was understandably upset about being called “girly-girl” on the set of Spider-Man back in the day, she doesn’t seem to have a problem with her co-stars and production teams calling her “Kiki.”
I found a post by the 90sgirlfriends Instagram account that shared behind-the-scenes photos taken by Denise Richards on the set of Drop Dead Gorgeous, Michael Patrick Jann’s 1999 mockumentary about a small-town beauty pageant. Several of the photos, which are a blast from the past, refer to Dunst as “Kiki,” including both in character and helping with stuff on the set of the movie.
It was a different story when Dunst filmed her 2025 dramedy, Roofman. In an interview alongside co-star Channing Tatum with MTV’s Josh Horowitz, she was asked about her nickname and if anyone called her that on set. However, Tatum did joke around with the actress by calling her Kiki multiple times in the interview.
I couldn’t find any clips of Kirsten Dunst talking about her experience making Kiki’s Delivery Service or its connection to her nickname. That said, this charming and emotional animated adventure is well worth a revisit all these years later.
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