MEDIA > ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS > 2003

UPTOWN GIRLS
from marykateandashley.com, 2003
Brittany Murphy and Dakota Fanning are over 15 years apart -- but you’d never know it when they start gabbing! The two adorable stars of the equally-adorable “Uptown Girls,” out in theatres right now, bonded so much during the New York location shoot for the new movie that you can hardly get an word in edgewise when you meet them in person! In the film, Brittany, 25, plays Molly, a rock star’s spoiled daughter who loses her inheritance and is forced to take a job nanny-ing for Ray (played by 9-year-old Dakota), a kid who’s actually more mature than Molly! The actresses talked to mary-kateandashley.com about babysitters, being blonde and their common bonds!
mary-kateandashley.com: You know what’s really funny? The more you two start talking, the more you look alike!
Dakota Fanning: Really? That’s great!
Brittany Murphy: Thank you!
mary-kateandashley.com: You two have only known each other a short time but act like long-lost sisters.
Brittany: I always say [we’re] “kindred soul sisters.” I believe we definitely were [related] in some past life. Nothing else can really account for this relationship other than that!
Dakota: Yeah, definitely.
mary-kateandashley.com: And did you have this deep connection the moment you met?
Brittany and Dakota: Yes!
Brittany: We were at Mel’s Diner [in Los Angeles]….
Dakota: …She walked in and we just instantly loved each other!
Brittany: It was like meeting someone that I already knew!
mary-kateandashley.com: Besides tons of energy, what other traits do you two share?
Brittany: We were both born in Atlanta --
Dakota: -- We both started speaking and walking at a really, really young age…and we both have blonde hair.
Brittany: Yes, but hers is natural!
mary-kateandashley.com: Your “Uptown Girls” director, Boaz Yakin, must have been relieved that you guys are so natural together -- the whole movie turns on your relationship!
Dakota: [The director] told us that if our relationship didn’t work, then the movie really didn’t work that well.
mary-kateandashley.com: Brittany, you’re 25 years old and you’ve done 25 films! Wow!
Brittany: Well, I started making pictures when I was 15; once I started working, I didn’t stop. I don’t know how to just sit around! I was raised with a really strong work ethic.
Dakota: Me, too!
mary-kateandashley.com: Brittany, do you feel like you’re in a position to give Dakota advice about starting in show business so young?
Brittany: No -- I take advice from Dakota!
mary-kateandashley.com: So where do you get all of your grown-up wisdom from, Dakota?
Dakota: I just think of myself as nine years old! I mean, I go home, I play with my baby dolls and I paint my toenails…
Brittany: And you play with your little sister, Elle.
mary-kateandashley.com: What do you guys think is the most important message for girls to get from this movie?
Brittany: Believing in yourself!
mary-kateandashley.com: This movie is also about how important a nanny or caretaker can be -- did either of you have amazing babysitters growing up?
Dakota: I’ve never had a babysitter. My family or neighbors have always been my caretakers.
Brittany: I did when I was young, because my [single] mom worked so many hours.
mary-kateandashley.com: Dakota, you knew at age three that you wanted to act! Do your parents give you rules -- like you have to get certain grades -- in order to keep working?
Dakota: No. My mom and dad know this is something I really love to do. And I love doing school -- it’s one of my favorite things -- so that’s not a problem. See, I love pretending. If you have to write something for homework, I pretend that I’m 14 and doing it for high school.
mary-kateandashley.com: You’ve never even had one acting lesson, right, Dakota?
Brittany: I didn’t take classes either -- that’s the other thing [we have] in common,
mary-kateandashley.com: Brittany, why do you think family is so important to you? You seem incredibly close with your mom and talk about her in every interview!
Brittany: [Family] is the foundation of living. Some people don’t have overly supportive families but my mom is my earthbound angel. Now, we share a house in L.A., but I grew up with aunts and uncles and cousins around and my dream is to have a compound in New Jersey [where I was raised]. The whole, entire family can live in the compound -- and dear friends!
mary-kateandashley.com: Cool! Are you two planning to work together again!
Brittany: I’ve been building a production company -- it started in my mom’s closet and now I actually have office space! The first thing [I told] everyone is, [find a project] for Dakota!

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