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ACTRESS FANNING IS COMING OF AGE
from Hollywood.com, December 9, 2006
by Larry Fine
Child actress Dakota Fanning is coming of age both on the film screen and in real life as she closes in on a milestone birthday.

"In three months I'll be an official teenager," the delicate, fair-haired Fanning told Reuters, her feet folded beneath her during an interview to publicize her starring role in the children's classic "Charlotte's Web," which opens Friday.

Fanning plays Fern in the live-action version of the beloved novel by E.B. White, a character who rescues a runt pig from certain slaughter and nurtures him to maturity.

Next month Fanning will be seen in a grittier role, portraying a rape victim in "Hounddog," a drama about a troubled young girl set against the backdrop of the rise of Elvis Presley.

Fanning is proud of both films and sees her involvement as part of her growing process.

"I believe that I'm kind of in the same stage as Fern is," Fanning said. "Kind of growing up, between being a little girl and an official teenager.

"But also we're a little bit different. Fern is starting to like boys and I'm really not. We're also kind of just growing up, going through more physical changes. We're getting taller, getting more mature and thinking about things in different ways than we did when we were younger."

Fanning finished shooting "Charlotte's Web" about 18 months ago. Since then she completed filming "Hounddog," written and directed by Deborah Kampmeier, which has caused a stir because of speculation on how the sexual assault is portrayed.

"It is a Southern story about a young girl going through some tough things and overcoming adversity and coming out as a better person, kind of through music and Elvis Presley and that movement in the early '60s," Fanning said.

"It was a wonderful film to be a part of. I hope that people learn things from it and I hope that it touches people. I'm really proud of it and I can't wait for it to come out in Sundance (Film Festival) in January."

Fanning began appearing in television commercials and in dramatic TV roles at age 6 and has since worked alongside the likes of Sean Penn ("I Am Sam"), Denzel Washington ("Man on Fire" and Tom Cruise ("War of the Worlds"). She said she relies on her own experience and the guidance of her directors when tackling a new role.

"All the characters that I've done have been my age. I don't try to do anything that isn't realistic for my age to do," she said.

Fanning said she did not find the sexual content of "Hounddog" upsetting.

"That's what I love about acting, that I can relate to other people's situations through acting without actually going through that myself," she said.

"It's like watching a story on the news, it touches me just as much as hearing about that on TV and I actually got to portray that. So people can learn about it. But no, it didn't affect me more than any other scene would."

Fanning, who grew up in Georgia before moving with her family to California, comes from a sports-loving clan. Her father pitched in the minor leagues for the St. Louis Cardinals organization, her mother went to college on a tennis scholarship and her grandfather, Rick Arrington, was a former quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles.

"My whole family was into sports. I chose acting instead of sports. My sister and I kind of veered off," said Fanning, whose 8-year-old sister Elle also has gone into acting.

Fanning said she would like to act in a costume drama one day and has a particular vehicle in mind.

"I love 'Gone With The Wind' so if they ever made another one, which I don't think they ever will because you can't beat the original version, I would love to be Scarlett O'Hara.

"I've been Scarlett O'Hara for two Halloweens in a row with a drape curtain dress."

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