Dakota Fanning is only 30 years old but she's been a professional actress for 24 of those years. While it’s now much more common to see successful child actors grow into equally, if not more successful adults, there was a time when that wasn’t the case. Stories of child actors who spent as much time in the tabloids as on-screen were once a normal occurrence, and Fanning says growing up that many interviews would make a point to remind her of that.
Dakota Fanning starred in numerous films as a young child and teen that are still well remembered to this day, including Man on Fire with Denzel Washington, with whom she's still friends. She’s a bit younger than other big celebs, like Lindsay Lohan or Brittney Spears, or have become known as much, if not more, for their personal exploits than their professional work. The Cut recently asked Fanning about her ability to avoid being in the headlines, and she says the fact that she was following in the footsteps of controversy was something that she was constantly reminded of in interviews. She explained…
Yeah, all of that has been deeply shoved down my throat. In interviews at a young age, I remember journalists asking me, ‘How are you avoiding becoming a tabloid girl?’ People would ask super-inappropriate questions. I was in an interview as a child and somebody asked, ‘How could you possibly have any friends?’ It’s like, Huh?
It seems more than a few interviewers may have simply assumed that by being a child actor, Dakota Fanning would end up in the same trouble that has befallen other child actors. I’m sure being a friend to a girl who is in movies and on TV is a bit unusual, but the idea that having friends would somehow be impossible shows a lot of preconceptions.
Child actors going "bad" is certainly an atention grabber, and there have been plenty of instances of child actors running afoul of the law or otherwise getting up to no good. Demi Lovato has produced a documentary about her own struggles,and recently released Child Star a documentary available with a Hulu subscription where she interviews many adults who were previously child stars.
Dakota Fanning did not become a “tabloid girl” but she says she has that she has no ill feelings towards those who did. She does understand the complexities of working in Hollywood and how one might find themselves going down the wrong path. For her part, Fanning credits her family as well as those she worked with for keeping her from potentially doing the same. She continued…
I have a lot of compassion for people who have been made into examples. If society and the media hadn’t played their part, who knows? I don’t think that it’s necessarily connected a hundred percent to being in this business; there are other factors, too. I just didn’t fall into it, and I don’t know the exact reasons except that my family is comprised of very nice, kind, protective people. I have a mother who taught me how to treat other people and also how to treat myself. And she was there every second. I was always treated with respect. It was never ‘Bring the kid in! Get her out!’ I wasn’t working with people who treated me that way — I was being respected as an actor and as equal as you can be for that age. Looking back on my life, my career is such a present part of it, but I really think about the childhood memories, too. My life doesn’t feel disproportionate with work, and I’m so grateful for that. I’m there doing work that matters.
While some of the child stars that ended up in tabloids never really recovered, others were much more successful. Lindsay Lohan has been making movies again and recently finished filming Freakier Friday, the sequel to the popular remake. Brittney Spears wrote a book that has since been optioned for a movie. Being in the tabloids is not the end of the road, but Dakota Fanning is clearly thankful it’s a road she didn’t go down.