MEDIA > ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS > 2006

CHARLOTTE CHANGED MY LIFE
from New Idea Magazine, December 11 2006
Written by Megan Norris

Dakota Fanning can charm piglets and people alike. Just ask her friend Jake.

Dakota Fanning may be one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, but the 12-year-old took time to welcome a special Aussie friend as she walked down the red carpet at the Melbourne premiere of the blockbuster Charlotte's Web.

Seven-year-old Jake, the son of the movie's animal trainer Jodie McKeone, became a favourite of the cast and crew during the three-month shoot in Greendale, near Melbourne.

Confined to a wheelcair, the young boy was a frequent guest on the set of the delightful new movie. He'd watch his mum working her magic on the animal stars, coaxing cows to swish their tails, sheep to lie down and squealing pink piglets to ham it up.

Jake was enchanted by the four-legged stars - and in turn the crew was enchanted by him.

After witnessing the challenges facing Jake, who was left with cerebral palsy after being deprived of oxygen during birth, the Charlotte's Web team started a trust fund for the battling youngster who cannot move or speak, and is fed through a tube in his tummy.

'During filming we had a game of tag where we passed around the pink clip the director used at the end of each day's filming to call a wrap. Whoever had the pink clip on them at the end of the day put a donation in a box,' Jodie says. 'They do it on every movie, and vote on a worthy cause at the end of filming. The producer said it was hard to find a more deserving cause than Jake.'

That pink clip became his most treasured possession during a respite stay at the Very Special Kids hospice in Malvern, Victoria, which helps children facing life-threatening illnesses.

And it was in his wheelchair, when Jake and his family were VIP guests at the premiere, that Dakota was waiting in the wings for the brave little boy.

'Great to see you, Jake,' she beamed, holding up a snoozing piglet to kiss his delighted face.

The girl who has made movies with Tom Cruise, Sean Penn and Robert De Niro, reveals that she loved her time in Australia, and that the movie wouldn't have been the same if it had been made in Hollywood.

'People are so friendly here, I adored it. Everyone was great fun to work with, and I just loved the pigs. They're really very smart creatures,' Dakota says, although she admits she wouldn't be having one as a pet any time soon.

Producer Jordan Kerner describes Dakota as a '40-year-old in a little girl's body, with a giant heart.' And Dakota's former co-star Kurt Russell, who gave her a horse called Goldie, says she's the best actress he'll ever work with.

But the young star, who plays piano and violin, is learning several languages and wants to go to college one day. She's also keen to be a director, like her heroine Jodie Foster.

'People think that kids in show business are brats, but you don't have to be a brat to be an actress. I enjoy it all so much that there's no time to do anything like that. And why would I want to do that when I'm enjoying myself?' she asks.

'When people say how mature I am, I want to act my age even more! I just feel like the age that I am, and not any older - but it's fun to be able to act older sometimes. That's what I love about acting, that you can meet people and do things that you would never be able to do in real life.'

In Charlotte's Web, based on the classic 1952 children's book by E.B. White, Dakota plays Fern, who sets out to save her pet pig Wilbur from becoming Christmas dinner.

Julie Roberts provides the voice of Charlotte the Spider, who spins magical message about Wilbur in her web, while other stars including John Cleese, Jennifer Garner, Robert Redford, Kathy Bates and Oprah Winfrey also voice farmyard animals.

It was tricky work, training the 47 pigs that shared the lead role - although director Gary Winick promised they had all been spared from the abattoir.

'It took three animal trainers to work on one scene where Wilbur the runt is spared,' animal trainer Jodie says. It was harder still to persuade the squealing piglet stars to snooze for the camera.

'Piggies don't like being held, so it took two of us sitting in a van at night, nursing them off to sleep, and one handing the sleeping piglet to Dakota,' she explains.

Jodie has nothing but praise for the very professional young star, who proved she had retained all of her animal magnetism when she appeared atthe premiere of Charlotte's Web with Wilbur.

'Handling pigs comes pretty natural to me now,' Dakota giggles. 'I'm so used to it because I spent three months holding them and doing everything with them.'

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