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'I JUST LIVE FOR NOW'
from Australian OK! Magazine, December 11 2006
Interview by Rachel Lees

While most 12-year-olds are just discovering the joys of going to the movies, Hollywood's youngest legend, Dakota Fanning, already overshadowing some of the world's greatest actors on-screen. At seven, she appeared in her first feature, I Am Sam, opposite Sean Penn. Fast-forward five years and she's added Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington, and Robert De Niro to her list of co-stars. 'I guarantee you, she is the best actress I'll work with in my entire career,' gushes Kurt Russell, who worked with her in Dreamer. 'She's one of those gifted people,' agrees Glenn Close, her co-star in Nine Lives.

Now her film Charlotte's Web is hitting our screens, which she filmed in Victoria last year. OK! asked Dakota for the lowdown on her famous friends, working with pigs and what she'd like to be when she grows up.

Tell us a bit about Charlotte's Web...
I play Fern, the little girl. Wilbur is my pig, who is like my best friend. It's so neat to play her because the book was written in the '50s and I get to interpret Fern on-screen.

Did the pigs cause any mayhem?
Yeah! Siobhan Fallon Hogan plays Aunt Edith and she bathes the pigs in buttermilk. The pig kept trying to get into the bucket and lick the buttermilk off itself. It was really funny!

Did you get to do any sightseeing while you were filming in Australia?
I went to the zoo in Melbourne and saw all the koalas and kangaroos and everything. It's so weird to think kangaroos are just out in the woods like normal animals in America!

You were at the Charlotte's Web premiere a week ago - do you enjoy red carpet events?
They're very exciting, especially when you get to go to different places and wear different dresses. And it's really funy to see the movie for the first time and see how other people liked it.

You've worked with some amazing actors. Who's your favourite?
I've loved everyone I've ever worked with. they've all been very special to me in different ways. Someone I'd like to work with that I haven't yet is Jodie Foster.

What do you admire about Jodie?
I'd love to follow in her footsteps. She was a child actor, she's still acting and she's also a director. She's a wonderful role model for me.

You've said you learn something new from everyone you work with. Can we throw a few names at you?
Sure!

Tom Cruise...
Tom is someone who just loves everyone, loves life, and loves to make other people happy - and he's also a great actor. I love him a lot. He treats everyone the same, with such respect and kindness.

Sean Penn...
He was one of the first people I worked with in I Am Sam. He taught me about [ad-libbing].

Denzel Washington...
He's wonderful - and an unbelievable actor. I'd learn something from everything he did.

Brittany Murphy...
We worked together on Uptown Girls. She's like a big sister to me and she'd always make other people feel good - she was kind of like Tom like that.

Is it true that you knit scarves for your co-stars as gifts?
I love making scarves for people because it's a very personal gift. You can pick the colour that would look best with somebody's eyes or something, so that's why I do that.

Do they ever give you presents?
At the end of Dreamer, Kurt Russell gave me a horse, named Goldie after his partner Goldie Hawn! And for my birthday, Tom Cruise gave me my first cell phone - I was 11.

What's the best thing about acting?
I think the characters you get to play - you're bringing a new person into the world every time. Also, the people you get to meet and the places you get to go.

People often say you're an adult in a child's body - how do you feel about that?
I don't really think of myself that way, I just think of myself the age I am. I never wish to be older or younger, I just live for now.

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