New Zealand DENIES Kirsten Dunst’s request for quarantine special treatment

Hollywood star Kirsten Dunst and her fiancé, Jesse Plemons, were forced to quarantine at an Auckland hotel after their applications to self-isolate at a remote rural property were rejected by the New Zealand government.

The American couple were initially permitted to enter the country in May to resume work on their upcoming film, The Power of the Dog, when the vast majority of foreigners were banned due to tight COVID-19 border restrictions.

Kirsten, 38, and Jesse, 32, then applied for an added exemption to serve their two-week quarantine period at an idyllic rural property while their imported cast and crew stayed at the five-star SO/ Auckland hotel.

However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Mfat) issued the couple a denial letter stating that their request would not be accommodated.

Kirsten and Jesse were already in New Zealand when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March, and they quickly made their way back home to Los Angeles.

The pair – along with their two-year-old son, Ennis, and 16 ‘essential’ workers – were granted exemptions from New Zealand’s strict border rules in mid-May to return to the country and resume filming The Power of the Dog.

But a week later, the A-list couple’s request to isolate at a rural property was denied.

The Mfat letter, dated May 21, read: ‘Managed isolation must be undertaken in a facility [hotel] that has wrap-round health and security services in place already.’

In a subsequent application just hours later, The Power of the Dog producer Chloe Smith wrote on behalf of Kirsten and Jesse: ‘In order for Ms Dunst and Mr Plemons to undertake their travel to New Zealand, they must be assured of the highest standards of privacy.

‘There is a huge amount of public interest in Ms Dunst and Mr Plemons and their activities.

‘She is routinely followed by paparazzi photographers and articles have been published on their activities in New Zealand.’

Smith concluded: ‘We will be unable to give them an assurance of privacy and, therefore, we will be unable to complete the film, if they are required to isolate under managed conditions.’

Despite these protests, Kirsten and Jesse ended up doing hotel quarantine. 

In an interview with Variety at the time, Kirsten admitted that ‘having a two-year-old in a hotel room for two weeks’ during quarantine was ‘challenging’. 

Kirsten and Jesse will star alongside Thomasin McKenzie, Frances Conroy and Benedict Cumberbatch in The Power of the Dog, which is slated for release next year.

New Zealand announced nine new coronavirus cases on Monday, five of which were in the community and were traced to the known Auckland cluster.

New Zealand has recorded 1,387 cases of COVID-19 so far, including 22 deaths.