14 DAY TRIAL // Ever since she was a child, Dakota Fanning has been in the spotlight but, in recent years, more so than ever. She's gorgeous, she's incredibly talented and, by all accounts, she must be filthy rich – which only makes that more interesting to see how grounded she is.
The actress recently sat down for an interview with Elle UK to talk about topics such as normalcy, being famous (a word she refuses to use when speaking of herself), her friends and her relationship with her mother, who is also her manager.
Dakota insists her mom is not on the payroll, even if she makes the most important decisions regarding her own and her sister Elle's career.
At the end of the day, the actress insists, she's just a regular teen: she goes to school, hangs out with the same friends she's had for years, does regular teen stuff, goes home and is occasionally scolded for being a messy girl.
As she sees it, she just happens to make movies, but she will not let that define her.
“It’s inevitable,” she says, when asked if people stare at her when she walks down the street. She knows it comes with the territory, but will never let that take over her real life.
“But it’s only as weird as you make it. You can kind of walk in and be like, 'God this is weird,' Or, you know, you just walk in like, 'I’m going to school like everyone else and it’s going to be great',” Dakota says.
When she's making movies too, she always keeps in mind that she's just a girl doing a job and refrains from acting like a star or a diva, as other actresses are known to do.
Dakota is never late and would never act entitled just because she happens to star in blockbusters.
“I’ve always been taught that the greatest trait in a person is to put other people before yourself,” she says, adding that she would not correct someone who gets her name wrong or be “fashionably late” just because she can.
“I will never send food back at a restaurant, even if it’s not right,” she says with a smile.
Because she's so grounded, being normal comes effortlessly to Dakota. As such, she doesn't even feel the pressure from the industry to look a certain way, because she doesn't want to let others dictate how she should be.
“I’m not stupid. People are always talking about tis person and that person who has an amazing body and this person who looks great and that person who doesn’t. It’s there, if you let it in. And I let it in to an extent. I just don’t let it affect the choices I make,” she says.
For the full interview with Elle UK – which is a true pleasure to read – see here.