MEDIA > ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS > 2003

"UPTOWN GIRLS" YOUNG - BUT VERY MATURE - DAKOTA FANNING
from Romantic Movies, 2003
Two red-hot actresses - Dakota Fanning (“I Am Sam”) and Brittany Murphy (“Just Married”) team up for the MGM comedy, “Uptown Girls.” Fanning plays Ray, the wise beyond her years 8 year-old daughter of an absentee record executive mother. Murphy takes on the role of Molly Gunn, the daughter of a deceased rock star who loses her inheritance when a shady accountant absconds with all her funds. When Molly is forced to take on the job of Ray’s nanny, both their lives are dramatically changed forever.
According to the filmmakers, Dakota Fanning was the only actress considered for the role of Ray. “Dakota was not only the perfect age for Ray, it’s like the role was written for her,” says producer Fisher Stevens.
Do you think you're growing up too fast?
I don't because when I go home, I play with my baby dolls and strollers and diaper bags, and play with my sisters. I still think of myself as nine years old.
Is it true you learned to read at two?
Yes, it is. I learned to read at two. I was in a Montessori school and they teach you to read really, really young.
How much did you know about obsessive-compulsive disorder before starring in “Uptown Girls?”
I watched “The Odd Couple” in preparation to play Ray, because they're sort of like Molly and Ray a little bit. But, I'm sort of like Ray in a couple of ways. I'm neat and clean. I kind of go crazy if there's stuff all over the place. My sister is like Molly and I'm like Ray in the sense that she's five and everything's everywhere in her room. And then my room is perfect. Everything's in order. It's all in its right place. So, I'm like Ray in those ways and I've also done ballet for a really, really long time.
Is it true you don't rehearse a lot?
Yes, I sort of just kind of read over it. I don't try to get too familiar with it because then I know sometimes we adlib stuff and it changes. We take stuff out and we add stuff in.
Was there a lot of adlibbing in this film?
Yes, there was. Boaz Yakin, the director, was very open to ideas. If you don't like this thing, you can totally change it and do something else, and just go with it.
Did you have a lot in common with Brittany Murphy?
Brittany's like my big sister. I'm the oldest sister in my family and she's just fantastic. She's like the dream babysitter. If I had a babysitter, I would want her to be exactly like Brittany. She's so nice to everybody and treats everybody so nice. The first day, she was like, "I'm Brittany." She introduced herself to everybody that she possibly could. I’ve learn something from every person on my movies and I learned from her how good it makes other people feel when you're really nice to them. I just want to be more like her.
Who have you learned the most from so far?
I learned something different on all my movies. I learned from Sean Penn, he taught me how to adlib. Then I learned from Denzel Washington, he's just so focused on his work and he puts his whole thoughts into it. And then Mike [Myers], he's just so hilarious. He's just so fun to be around. Brittany, she's so nice to everybody and she's just hilarious and funny, but then also she's very dedicated to her work and just does a fantastic job.
What do you like about acting?
Just meeting people like Brittany and all the actors and going to locations that you might not go to in your life, and just getting to play other people.
Was making this movie your first time in New York?
It was. I had only been there for about less than a day to do an interview and then I was there for two months. It was really, really cool, you know, to see everything. It looks exactly like when you see it on TV. At the Empire State Building, I cried in line for 45 minutes because I didn't want to go up. I pulled my visor down, but I loved it once I was up there. I've never been up that high before, so I didn't really know what to expect. And then when I got up there, the view was spectacular. It was really fun.
How was working in New York City?
It was such an experience. There are New York paparazzi and they can take pictures whenever they want. [When we were] not rolling, when you're rolling, so you hear in the middle of a take, "Brittany, chikachikachikachikachika." "Marley, chikachikachika," "Dakota, Chikachikachika." On my first day we were doing a scene and then we hear, "Brittany, Dakota, chikachikachika." And we didn't know what it was.We thought, "That sounds like cameras but no, nobody's taking any pictures. It's not Boaz, it's not the director." And then we found it was a camera, but it was fun. Brittany posed for the cameras and stuff.
What funny things happened while filming “Uptown Girls?”
Well, the pigs were hilarious as you can probably imagine. There were two pigs that played the same part and they were twins, Springer and Softie. The only way you could tell them apart was Springer had a freckle on his bottom. So you're always looking at the bottom, “Now which one is this? Okay, that's Springer. Okay, that's Softie.” But I don't know why they named it Softie because they weren't that soft. They were so cute [and] so sweet. One time one of the pigs, we were doing the tea party scene and me and Brittany had a tea party and it jumps up, grabs the butter and runs away - the whole thing of butter! And the camera guy pans down and you see Softie with butter coming down his face.
Do you watch your movies?
Yes, I do. It's weird to think that your nose if 15 feet across on the screen. I like watching myself because then it brings back all the memories. You go, “Oh, I remember when we filmed that.”
How do you handle your fame?
It's an honor even to get to be in movies and have the opportunity to work with the people that I have worked with. I worked with Denzel Washington in Mexico City and it was hard to believe that I was working with Denzel Washington, and Sean Penn, and Brittany and everybody.

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