MEDIA > ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS > 2005

THE GENERIC DAKOTA FANNING INTERVIEW
from Made In Atlantis, May, 2005

Whilst chatting to Dakota Fanning, it's sometimes possible to forget that she is just 11 years old.

After all, an incredible CV which includes TV commercials, television, her award winning film debut alongside Sean Penn in I Am Sam, starring with Rees Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama and Denzel Washington in Man on Fire and now playing Tom Cruise's daughter in the much anticipated summer blockbuster from Steven Spielberg, War of the Worlds, would be a justifiable source of pride for an actress three times her age.

But Dakota Fanning is just 11 years old and she's not about to forget that. “I love to ride horses and read books,” she says if you should ask what are the fun things in her life. “I learned how to play the piano for Man On Fire so I continued with that. I'm just like any other kid, really, But I love to do movies.”

She certainly does and she happens to be very good at acting in them, too. This remarkable young actress has won lavish praise from her vastly more experienced co-stars and directors alike. All agree, Miss Fanning is a special talent.

Dakota first started acting five years ago at the age of six when she made appearances on such acclaimed programmes as ER, The Practice and the sitcom Malcolm In The Middle. Mention the latter and she bursts into giggles at the memory.

“I did one episode of Malcolm in the Middle and I was biting Rees, Malcolm's older brother,” she laughs. “I bit his leg and his arm and I really bit him. He wanted me to really bite him, so I did! It was fun.,.”

Dakota, and her younger sister, Elle, were born in Conyers, Georgia, and it was her mother, Joy, who first took her along to a drama playgroup as a fun extra school activity.

What happened next? “You know when I was little I would dress up and pretend to be different things and my Mom saw that and she took me to this playhouse where you study for a play and do the play at the end of the week,” she explains.

“And then the head of the playhouse said to my Mom that we should go to an agency. And then the head of that agency said to my Mom that she should take me to California. So my Mom and I went and I got some commercials and I got some TV shows and it all kind of led to I Am Sam and we've never left!”

Home is now in California with dad Steve, a former baseball player, mum Joy and Elle, 7, who has followed in big sister's footsteps and starred in The Door in the Floor with Kim Basinger and Jeff Bridges, Daddy Day Care with Eddie Murphy and has even played a younger version of Dakota in Taken, the Spielberg executive produced mini series, and I Am Sam.

“But we have not done any scenes together yet,” says Dakota. “And that would be really cool.”

At the start of her professional career, Dakota notched up several TV commercials - she vividly remembers one for Tide, the detergent - and had a small role in the film Tomcats in 2001 but she considers her part as Lucy in I Am Sam, later that same year, to be true debut on the big screen.

She became the youngest actor ever nominated for a Screen Actor's Guild Award, for I Am Sam, and won the Broadcast Film Critics' Association award for Best Young Actor for her stunning performance.,

Dakota has since worked with Denzel Washington in Man On Fire, Robert De Niro in the thriller Hide and Seek and starred in the yet to be released Dreamer, with Kurt Russell, for DreamWorks. She is currently in the final stages of production on Charlotte's Web in Australia.

In War of the Worlds, she plays Rachel Ferrier whose parents, Ray, played by Tom Cruise, and Mary Ann (Miranda Otto) are separated. Rachel and her brother, Robbie (Justin Chatwin), go to stay with their father for the weekend when Mom plans a rare trip away.

“Rachel doesn't have a very good relationship with her father, she is not with him very much she is mostly with her Mom,” says Dakota. “And her Mom has left the kids with her father while she goes on a trip and then the attack happens.

“So it's the worst time for it to happen because she is not with her Mom who she feels the safest with. But she is with her older brother, who is played by Justin, who is a comfort to her. And you know, the objective is to stay alive and get back to their Mom.”

Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds, which is based on the H G Wells classic story, is one of the most eagerly awaited films of the year. Featuring stunning special effects, an edge of the seat rollercoaster where the existence of mankind is under threat from aliens with vastly superior technology, it features a brilliant cast led by the most acclaiming filmmaker working today.

This telephone interview with Dakota was conducted in early May whilst she was still in Australia filming.

Q: How are you?
A: I'm good. How are you? I'm in Melbourne for Charlotte's Web. I've been here for a month and a half and I have three weeks to go. It's been really fun, I've never been here before, and it's been really exciting. Q: When you are a long way from like that does Mum come with you?
A: Yes, my Mom does and my sister came with me this time and my Dad and my grandmother have been to visit.

Q: So there's lots of people around to help you feel at home..
A: Yes.

Q: Let me ask you about War of the Worlds.. Did you first meet Steven Spielberg when you worked on Taken?
A: Well, he was the producer but I first met him when I went to the re release of ET. That was after I had done the first episode of Taken.

Q: How much of Steven's work did you know when you met him?
A: I knew a lot about him, I mean, my favourite movie is ET but I know he has done lots of amazing movies. And he's a really nice guy. When I worked with him on War of the Worlds he was like my Dad, you know, and I saw him every day.

Q: How did War of the Worlds come about?
A: I was doing a movie with him called Dreamer with Kurt Russell and that was for DreamWorks and they had asked me about War of the Worlds and if I wanted to do it and so actually the next time I met Steven it was on the set.

Q: Had you met Tom Cruise before?
A: I hadn't. I met him in New York a couple of days before we started shooting and that was the first time. He is a really nice guy, he is so kind and loving. Everyone knows what a great actor he is but he makes everyone feel so special about themselves and treats everyone with such respect.

Q: What did he say to you that first time you met?
A: The first thing he did was he came in and he ran over and he picked me up and swung me round and he said `we're making War of the Worlds baby!' And that was the first thing (laughs). It was a great.

Q: What do you think of the story?
A: It's loosely based on the book. And I thought it was best if I waited until after we had made the movie to read the book, so I will read it now.

Q: Tell me about your character…
A: My character is Rachel and I'm Tom's daughter and at the centre of this epic story is a family and they are basically just trying to keep safe and stay alive and stay together and my character is very worried about the whole thing (laughs) as she should be! She doesn't have a very good relationship with her father, she is not with him very much she is mostly with her Mom. And her Mom has left the kids with her father while she goes on a trip and then the attack happens. So it's the worst time for it to happen because she is not with her Mom who she feels the safest with. But she is with her older brother, who is played by Justin Chapman, who is a comfort to her. And you know, the objective is to stay alive and get back to their Mom.

Q: is it going to be scary, do you think?
A: It's definitely going to be scary but it is going to be really exciting scary.

Q: Did you do a lot of what they call `green screen?' Do you actually see any aliens when you are acting?
A: No we didn't, you know Steven would kind of explain where they were going to be and what they looked like but it's mainly going to be a big surprise for me too when I get to see them (laughs)..

Q: Is that harder when you can't actually see something there?
A: You know it wasn't too hard because Steven would pretty much explain what they looked like but they still weren't there (laughs) so it was hard. But you know, not excruciatingly.

Q: I guess it comes down to using your imagination…
A: Yeah. You really have to believe that it's really happening. I kind of put myself in that situation and think about what I would do if it was really going on.

Q: Do you get really caught up in the story?
A: Actually during the take it is so real that you begin to believe that it is happening and then it's `cut' and it's like `oh, OK, it's not really happening..' (laughs).

Q: You've worked with great directors, what was Steven like to work with?
A: He is the best. It was a dream of mine to get to work with him. And with Tom and Tim Robbins and Miranda Otto and everybody in the same movie was unbelievable, I could never have asked for anything better.

Q: I know you work hard but do you have fun when you are on a big movie like War of the Worlds?
A: I do. You know, it's really exciting to be on such a big set with so much going on and at the heart of it was Steven and he really created this whole thing and if it wasn't for him I'd never have had the opportunity to be in this movie and I so wanted to be a part of War of the Worlds.

Q: But did you get to have some fun when you were in between scenes?
A: I do. When I'm not in school, I definitely do. There's always other kids on set, like doubles and things, so there's always other kids to be around and hang out with.

Q: How does the schooling work for you?
A: I do four hours a day and I have a teacher that has been with me for five years and she does all my school.

Q: Is it hard doing it that way?
A: It isn't you know. I never really went to real school. I mean I did when I was from like two to five years old and then I came to California and I was home schooled from that point on. So it's really kind of what I'm used to and it allows me to do acting because it would be really hard if I went to real school and they had to pull me out to go and do a movie, so it's much easier and I love doing it because it lets me do movies.

Q: What is it that you like so much about acting?
A: I guess it's that you get to be different people and you get to do things that you wouldn't do and to go places that you might not get to go if it weren't for this movie - I might not have gotten to go to Australia if it weren't for Charlotte's Web and I definitely wouldn't have got to meet Steven and Tom if it weren't for War of the Worlds so those are the most special parts of acting.

Q: Do you have favourite movies that you've made?
A: All of the movies I've done have been so different and I'm so happy that I've been a part of them. I really feel that on every movie I've learned something new and grown in a different way and I really feel that it's what I want to do with the rest of my life and it's a special part of me. I definitely want to be an actress when I'm older.

Q: Tell me the fun things that you enjoy…
A: I love to ride horses and read books. I learned how to play the piano for Man On Fire so I continued with that. I'm just like any other kid but I love to do movies.

Q: Do you keep in touch with your friends when you are away from home making a movie?
A: When I'm not working I see them often and we e mail each other and phone them so I'm not cut off from them when I'm working.

Q: Who is your best friend?
A: James. He's back in California. He isn't an actor. He gets really excited about all the movies and he can't wait to see War of the Worlds. It was a really cool movie to do and I feel so lucky that I can say `I got a chance to work with Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise in War of the Worlds..;

Q: How long was the shoot for War of the Worlds?
A: It was about five and a half months. We did all the outside stuff back east and then when we came to LA it was mostly all studio and like a week of exterior.

Q: Did Mom and Dad act at all?
A: No! (laughs). My dad was a baseball player. We're a complete sports family.

Q: You've got a younger sister, is that right?
A: Yes, Elle, she's seven. She has done a couple of movies. She was in Daddy Day Care with Eddie Murphy and she was in Door in the Floor with Kim Basinger and Jeff Bridges. So there's a family thing with me and my sister in the business.

Q: Did Mom work?
A: She looked after the kids. She never worked.

Q: Where do you think your love of acting came from?
A: You know when I was little I would dress up and pretend to be different things and my Mom saw that and she took me to this playhouse where you study for the play and do the play at the end of the week and then the head of the playhouse said to my Mom that we should go to an agency. And then the head of that agency said to my Mom that she should take me to California. So my Mom and I went and I got some commercials and I got some TV shows and it all kind of led to I Am Sam and we've never left (laughs)

Q: What commercials did you do?
A: Well, my first commercial was a Tide commercial, you know the detergent. And then I did a Georgia lottery commercial with Ray Charles. He was so nice. I was so sad when he passed away. I had such a great time with him, it was just me and him in this huge ballroom and he was singing and playing the piano, singing Georgia On My Mind and he was so great, I'll never forget it. It was amazing.

Q: Can you remember any other commercials?
A: I can remember one for a computer. I did a commercial for Stop and Shop, a convenience store, and I was part of a pit crew, I had to change the tyre and fix a car. That was funny. Oh wait, that was not Stop and Shop, that one I was making a sandwich. The pit crew one was for Autoworks.

Q: You did some television like Malcolm in the Middle..
A: Yes, I did one episode and I was biting Rees, Malcolm's older brother. I bit his leg and his arm and I really bit him. He wanted me to really bite him, so I did.

Q: You've worked with some very famous leading men, like Sean Penn, Denzel Washington and Tom Cruise. Do you have a favourite?
A: Oh I could never pick a favourite. They all mean too much to me. I'll never forget all the memories we've shared.

Q: Is it true you might be doing Alice in Wonderland?
A: Maybe in a couple of years, but I can't really think about that right now.

Q: You've got three weeks left on Charlotte's Web. Are you looking forward to going back home?
A: I am. Melbourne's great but I am looking forward to going home.

Q: Have you got pets?
A: Yes, I've got a horse called Goldie, a Palomino, who is five. I ride every weekend. But when I go home I'll try and ride him him every day.

Q: Which are your favourite Steven Spielberg movies?
A: I love ET and my other big favourite is The Colour Purple. I'd like to see Close Encounters.

Q: What was Tom like to work with?
A: Well, both Steven and Tom were kind of like father figures for me on set, very supportive. Steven would kind of explain the scenes first, especially the ones that the aliens were involved in, he would really talk us through them. I hope I can see the film soon. I'm going back to California and then I guess we'll start the press stuff so I'll see it then.

Q: Do you ever get nervous?
A: No, you know I don't I'm always just really excited.

Q: It's obviously important that you have Mom with you…
A: Oh yeah. I'm with her all the time. The most that I've never seen her was three days. She had to go back to Georgia for three days once, a long time ago, and that's the only time I've been separated from her. She's a great Mom. I have the best little sister too. She's the perfect little sister.

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