Dakota Fanning - 'All Her Fault' [LIVE]

26:11And that is man on fire. Uh, 2004, that's Denzel Washington playing a guy who is employed by a family to protect their young daughter from being kidnapped and does not do that. She gets kidnapped. But it's then, you know, the rest of the movie is correcting that in very, very assorted ways. But Denzel and Tony Scott over the course of their career did like four movies together. I think that was the second. did you learn anything from them individually or seeing what was already probably a an interesting dynamic of them working yeah absolutely I mean Tony I think was the most fearless director I ever worked with just in terms of um like you it was very normal to pull up to that the the scene at the end when on the bridge when you know if you haven't seen the movie i can't help you for spoilers yeah but at that the that last scene we pulled up to set and tony was like climbing up the like side of the mountain like i mean he was just all in i mean he was all in he was so fearless such an adventurer um and i just was all i was so struck it wasn't he wasn't sitting high up in a director's chair away from set i mean he was we had a lot of scenes in the car with me and denzel he's like on the rig cigar in his mouth pink hat on cargo vest cargo shorts i mean you know he just like he was just in it and that was another first time like there were it was very regular for like eight or nine cameras to be going at any one time for any of those scenes yeah and they'd be in a bush I mean you'd walk by and you'd you'd be like oh there's one there I mean you know it was just really and you can feel it in the film it's like and that also taught me like you never know where they're what's being seen and so it keeps you like alive in a different way you know like you it's not you're not just performing at a certain angle for one camera there's six over there that are seeing everything and so that was um just a moment of learning for me.

28:35And Denzel, I mean, there just is, there never has been and never will be another Denzel Washington, in my opinion. I mean, he just, his intensity as a performer is so unmatched.

28:56Dakota Fanning:And he also really kept me on my toes, you know, he really kept me on my toes as an actor and again taught me, reinforced that importance of being present and listening and being in tune with the other actor that you're working with. And he's stayed in my life in different ways and very grateful for that and grateful that I got that experience at such a young age to work with two greats. And they had such a beautiful relationship. They had a real trust for one another that was very palpable on set. Yeah. Well, the pace of this is pretty incredible, as people will see. That was 2004, 2005. There's two movies that you're in that both open at number one at the box office so again tons of people seeing you i don't know that like since mickey rooney or something there's been a child actor that was in such big hits um but the first one is hide and seek with you and robert de niro and then later or i believe later that year uh war of the worlds spielberg's remake of the or you know uh had been done before as a movie and what was interesting going back and you know I remember seeing it at the time but I forgot how you know relatively shortly after 9-11 it had been made and the way people were writing about it it was sort of like the aliens were were stand-ins for terrorists and I mean anyway I I you were 10 when you did this did you um you're again Spielberg Tom Cruise is your kind of so-so dad who then rises to the occasion to protect his family I guess again I don't know if you'd had any time to even see movies when you're by this point you're still so young so like is it just like oh this is the guy that put me in taken and this is the guy this is the nice guy Tom or did you have a no I do yeah yeah yeah I do I totally knew I mean I knew exactly who Steven was and Tom Cruise it was it didn't feel like you could get a more movie making experience than working in a movie with Tom Cruise directed by Steven Spielberg and I definitely felt that very much every every day and knew that that was something that usually happens one time so you want to really enjoy it and I did and I guess just the scale I'm trying to the scale and like yeah just the also like the people in the crew like Stephen is somebody that works with people over and over again and so there's like that camaraderie with with those people and the shorthand that they have and um I I've I love that now like I'm always I always ask people like oh how many times have you worked you know i like when people work together a lot like i like that kind of loyalty and all of that um and yeah it just was so everything was bigger than life like the scale of the film was bigger than life the whole movie was pre-visualized like that we would watch like pre-vis of all the scenes and in the tent so it was like basically animated the the whole film and so you really could get a sense of where the tripods were and where things were going to be and so even if you were just looking at you know blue screen you had something to kind of root you there were some things that were practical which was very cool and yeah I mean we would film in like entire towns like you know it was there was on the scene in the ferry there was 1000 background artists you know I mean it was wild it was just so wild and you could feel from the one background person to Tom the excitement of of what was happening like that was the other really fun thing to see like it wasn't even lost on Tom how special and fun it is to work with Steven Spielberg you know like he was so excited about the experience and then And Steven's a director who just really loves making movies.

33:29Dakota Fanning:So that's his, that's the most important thing. And like at the core, I think of everything that he does is how much he loves movies. And yeah, you can really feel that for sure. And four years later, you defended your best young actor or best young performer. Critics' Choice Award for that one as well. I was taller this time. Nobody had to hold you up. um also 2005 i'll just note another nice movie uh dreamer you're kind of like a young horse whisperer type yeah exactly yeah um and then 2006 another animal uh related movie charlotte's web i mean a lot of people like grew up on these movies i love it i love it i absolutely love it So meanwhile, just to like check in on what was going on in your your regular life at that point, you were homeschooled except when you're making a movie.

34:26And then when you're making a movie, you're tutored. so I had um you have to when you're uh an actor that's in school you have what's called a studio teacher and it's a they're certified real teachers and then they're also there as like a social

34:43Dakota Fanning:worker to protect like your hours and making sure that you're not going over and that you have certain breaks and certain things like that and so I met my studio teacher on I am Sam And her name is Jan. And so she traveled. She was on all of those things thus far that you've mentioned. She traveled to all those places and homeschooled me. And then if it was during the school year and I wasn't working, I would go to her house and do like normal school. But it was just me with her. And I did that up until ninth grade. And then in ninth grade, I went to a private school in L.A. And up to that point, I guess one thing I was wondering is, are your friends fellow child actors?

35:34Are there because I guess you're not in a classroom like you're saying, like I know it probably solidified your bond with your sister. Yeah. But like who were who were you around when you weren't making a movie? My sister, obviously. And then my sister was in a movie called Daddy Daycare.

35:53and there was another kid in daddy daycare and his name is Max Burkholder.

36:00Dakota Fanning:And my grandmother would travel with, this is a long-winded story to say I had two other friends. But no, and my grandmother would travel with my sister when my mom was working with me or go to set with my sister. Daddy Daycare was in LA. Anyways, this little boy named Max Burkholder, his mom, Kelly, was with him. She's from Memphis. We're from Georgia, both kind of living in L.A. And they bonded. Then Max had an older brother who was exactly my age named James. Cut to those two boys still are best friends. Max Berkholder is on TED. I don't know if we have any TED fans in the house. Yeah. But so, yeah, I had them.

36:44And then also you would meet kids like on set. Like, you know, I know all of Steven's kids, for example, you know, and like Denzel's I went to I ended up going to high school with his daughter, you know, so I had you see other kids. But but yeah, those the the Burkholders were like who we would do all our stuff with. And and and then my sister. And then also when you're young and you have like stunt doubles and photo doubles and stand-ins and those things, those are kids too, you know? So like there was always other kids around. But also at the same time, it's not that it was hard to – but I did feel like sometimes at nine years old, if somebody is just really focused on going to school and doing an extracurricular activity and I'm like talking about having been in Mexico City with eight cameras like they don't they didn't know what I was talking about like you know what I'm saying and that was fine like you know there was so so yeah I felt like most young people that I had in my life as a child had some

37:54Dakota Fanning:connection to the entertainment industry and yeah it provided just an understanding it wasn't like Like I was the odd one out or, you know, anything like that. Yeah. I think I know the answer to this question, but I'm going to put it out there. I mean, I have siblings. Most many people who have siblings, you know, you bicker with your siblings. Sometimes you get competitive with them. Was it weird for you when Elle started acting too or was it? Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes I feel like when Elle and I talk about our relationship, it seems like, oh, it's very like we don't fight or something. So I want to get on record that we have a very normal sister relationship, chock full of arguments.

38:39But we we are very close. At the same time, I am four years older and there was something about that age gap. I always felt older, like I was the big sister and she was the little sister. And. I don't like I didn't compete with my little sister, she's a baby, like, you know, and So I think that that just has stayed. And even though like our age gap has now completely closed and we're best friends and I don't. It's not like, oh, my God, I see him so much older than her still. But because of that, like setting up our dynamic, I think I've just not really. We're not competitive. We're just not. We're not competitive.

39:25and other siblings will be like oh you you probably want to beat l at you know tennis or what i'm like i literally don't care i literally don't care and l is the same like we're just we're just not like that um and yeah i just always felt older so something about the age gap like

39:45Dakota Fanning:made that not that feeling of competitive sure not it's not grow and i kind of knew that i just Yeah, yeah, no, it's nice to say it, yeah. So around this time when you're going off to, what did you call it, like, is it, what kind of school? Once you went into regular school, you were like. I went to a private school in L.A., yeah, yeah. So around that time is also when I think you started to play more, understand, like, make sense. You would start to play more kind of mature parts. Yeah. And I remember the first time, I think the only time prior to tonight that I'd ever seen you, there was the premiere in Tribeca of a movie called Hound Dog.

40:26Yeah, yeah, yeah. And this was back in 2007, I think. And this was a movie that they spent years trying to raise the money for, like a little indie. You spent, from what I read, months prepping for to play this. It's like a 12-year-old girl in the late 50s in Alabama who is obsessed with Elvis. but also has some tough things happen to her. Even before anyone had seen the movie, I think when you guys were still making the movie, the thing became like, this is the rape movie. Yeah. Because there is a tough scene in it. Yeah. But it felt like, again, going back and reading what you and the director, Deborah Kampmeyer, I think, said about it.

41:10And what a weird experience to have your, everybody's judgment question for a movie nobody had even seen. Yeah, it was really unfortunate. And I think the movie was about so many things and growing up in the South and about Elvis and about, I mean, it was about so many things.

41:32Dakota Fanning:And there was a part that addressed, you know, sexual assault. And but I think the point of the movie was that that didn't define the character and wouldn't define anyone who was a victim of that. And so then to have it then sort of be turned like it was, that piece was going to define this whole film and this whole experience and the whole thing was really unsettling. And like you said, no one had seen the movie. And then I think when people did see the movie, I hope people felt, you know, like had learned had learned a lesson you know like learned their lesson it was it was a really odd thing to do um some great actresses yeah robin right piper laurie piper laurie david morse um it was and it was just like such a beautiful experience to make the film and um and then it kind of felt like it got taken from me yeah and And yeah, I didn't enjoy that.

42:43Just sort of springboarding off of that, the next movie I want to bring up is The Secret Life of Bees. The next year, it's Gina Prince-Bythewood. Going back to I Am Sam, I believe, you've worked quite a lot with female directors. Yeah, yes. And right through the present. Is that a coincidence or is that something that you seek that out? How do you explain that? Well, it's funny. it's funny because the first director I ever worked with was Jesse Nelson on I Am Sam you know for a film was Jesse Nelson obviously she's she's a woman and so from the beginning of my career it was that just totally normal you know I didn't I didn't know like the facts of the matter until I grew up but at the time it just was like totally normal and then just as it's happened that's been

43:32Dakota Fanning:the the way it's turned out I've worked with a ton of incredible um female directors and I'm really happy for that but but like yeah no I mean up until Secret Life of Bees I hadn't even thought twice about it you know yeah yeah and then Secret Life of Bees again actually back in the 60s you've had quite a there's several but um where you're playing a kid in the 60s and in this case um her mother's been kind of died under weird circumstances years earlier and she now finds like the only kind of loving parentage from these these three black women that are around her um I guess just you know from the way you all talked about it at the time it seemed like that was a memorable one for you super memorable yeah super memorable Gina's incredible Jennifer Hudson Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, Sofia Canedo.

44:28Dakota Fanning:It was so special. Just like incredible actresses coming together. It's based on a book, a very beloved book. And so having that brought to life and yeah, working with them every single day was really, I just got to really sit and absorb and listen to their stories. I remember Alicia Keys was performing at the Super Bowl while we were filming and had to leave to go perform at the Super Bowl and we all stopped work to watch on a screen her perform at the Super Bowl it was like that was so crazy because I knew her at that point um and and yeah it was that was that was a that was a special one yeah it's a special the next year is a movie that I mean you'll see when we comes to the student questions we we solicit from everybody we pick a few but can't include everybody but the no I don't think we got questions about a single movie more than Coraline

45:342009 uh you're doing the voice of the title character this is adapted from Neil Gaiman's book. Yes. And I guess, had you, I think you had done, you had voice acted for Lilo and Stitch 2. Yes. And maybe even, was Totoro before? Oh yeah, My Neighbor Totoro was before, yes. But like, I guess Just barely, I mean, I'll get, when I talk about, you'll see. No, well please, yeah. No, no. Just about, I guess voice acting in that film specifically. But yeah, voice acting. Yeah, well that, no, that film specifically, so it was originally I met Henry Selick who who was the director um and it was going to be a live action

46:16Dakota Fanning:movie and so I had met with him under that those pretenses and then again I was young so I don't know the exact timing but then it came around that it was it was going to be um you know animated or you know kind of the the live action animation with the models and everything um and would I be the voice and and so uh I was so excited and and and started that process of doing the voice and I I did understand like oh you have to go in and like you have many different sessions and you know it takes obviously a very long time and everything but I was doing Coraline from nine to it came out when I was 15.

47:01Oh my God. Oh my God. It was, you know, and I remember like I went to Oregon, to Leica and saw the models and saw the sets that are built because they are sets and they were like, yeah, you know, if we get close to three seconds, that's an unbelievable day. You know, like, I mean, just the mood, how they, I mean, I can't even begin to know how they actually do it. And I saw it with my own eyes, but it just, it feels, it feels so overwhelming. It's a gift that those creators have. And then, yeah, Henry would go back and kind of rewrite and film things with the models on the sets. And then that would change something.

47:52And so then I would come back in and rerecord. And my voice changed. I mean, like my voice changed. and I remember Henry was like your voice sounds different I'm like dude I'm 14 like yeah of course it does so I would have to like pitch up my voice and I can't remember if the Michigan accent was always a part of it or if then I had to kind of work that and no maybe it was always a part of it I can't remember but then there was that and then yeah my voice getting deeper and me having to like go back to how my voice sounded at nine you know it was like it was wild it was such a journey and then um yeah so when it came out it was great and it was like you know beloved then but the love for Coraline has grown and grown and grown and grown I know and I love I just love that people love it so much yeah um I'm gonna list a bunch of movies here before I ask you the the actual question but yeah um within about three or four years um we've got you as the kind of villainous vampire in the twilight saga new moon 2009 eclipse 2010 and breaking dawn part 2012 also in that period in the middle of that is the runaways where you're playing uh you know the lead singer of that band and alongside the guitarist Joan Jett.

49:23Yeah. Somebody who you in that whole period spent a lot of time with is another fellow child actress turned adult actress, Kristen Stewart. And I just was wondering, you know, did you guys kind of, I guess, could you relate to each other in a way that there probably aren't very many other people that you could and just working on those with, with her. I'm curious. Yeah, totally.

49:48Dakota Fanning:um the first time Kristen and I actually met we did a short film that Kate Hudson directed for Glamour magazine um and we met in passing um and then but the first time we really had like a proper conversation was on New Moon and we bonded right away like just right away we totally bonded we're very different from each other but like yes there's a shared there's a shared history of growing up that we both understand. And so we bonded right away. Then we did the Runaways, which was a very exciting bonding experience once again. Me playing Cherie Curry, her playing Joan Jett, singing the songs, doing all of that, like getting to know Cherie, getting to know Joan, separately and together.

50:40And all of it was just one really fun summer in LA

50:44Dakota Fanning:of getting to work together and hang out all the time. And then, yeah, the other Twilight films over the next few years. And Kristen, I was, I guess, 15 on New Moon. And I would go to the ends of the earth for her. And I know she would do the same for me. We've been through so much together. We've grown up together. and I just love her so, so much. And it's very, very special. I think it, I already know how special it is, but I'm also like imagining us like in our 50s talking about like the crazy shit we did, you know? Like it's just fun to know that you have somebody that like understands and like sees a part of your youth and that you can share a history with.

51:34Dakota Fanning:One thing that occurs to me to ask you, She's recently moved into directing. When you were very little, you had suggested that might be something you'd want to do. Is that still the case? I'm so proud of her directing and making that movie and absolutely loved getting to watch what she created. I used to say that all the time. And I think I would explain it and why I thought it was I love directors. I mean, that is so important to me in starting a project where it really can make or break your experience of making something. And that relationship is just so important to me. And I was like, oh, I would love to be on the other side of that and give that support and relationship to an actor.

52:23And then I directed a short film.

52:26Dakota Fanning:the the brand Mew Mew um does this thing called Mew Mew Women's Tales and Mrs Prada um it's kind of her passion project and so I was chosen to to direct a short film one of the years and I was filled with terror I mean I was I was filled with fear and I did it I mean you know it It was teeny tiny. It was two days. It was just teeny tiny. I had a lot of friends surrounding me. It was like the most comfortable experience you could get. And I was like, I'm never doing that again. It caused me so much anxiety. I felt so responsible for everybody. I felt like so much pressure. And I'm not used to feeling that way on a set.

53:20As an actor. And so I was like, oh, this is, I don't like feeling this way on the place that I'm usually most comfortable. And so now my answer to the question is, I could see it happening at some point in my life, but it would have to be a project that I felt like I wouldn't be able to survive if I didn't do it. It would have to be something that just like really filled me with excitement and that it was something that I had to do to feel that feeling again. There's a lot of actors who like you'll see directed by and you're like, oh, my God, you know, and that I just don't think is my path. I just I makes me too nervous.

54:10We'll say you you and Elle are increasingly producing. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Which is that I can do. you can put together the pieces but it's like it just felt yeah it feels different yeah yeah um so meanwhile graduate from high school 2011 right and go off to NYU which meant uh moving away from your whole family for the first time right um because I guess at this point your mom was going to stay on sets with Elle or whatever. So I guess, you know, I wonder if you can describe your college experience. I heard actually, I'd read and I was going to prompt you about this, but then I even just, before we came out, I heard you talk.

54:56There was a kind of, as there is for many of us, like one professor or somebody who really can make a big difference for you. It seems like that was the case for you.

55:05Dakota Fanning:Yeah, for sure. So I, it was never, I never questioned whether I would go to college or not. It just always felt like something that I would do. I wasn't, um, I, I, I was excited about that prospect, but I didn't want to like altogether stop working. And, and so, and I really wanted to move to New York and I always had, I mean, And I would, with my teacher Jan, who I mentioned earlier, like on our breaks, like I would design like my dream apartment in New York. Like I would always talk about it. And so I knew the only way I could make that happen is if I went to college there, my mom would never let me just like move to New York on my own without like some sort of thing.

55:52And so, yeah, I did. I did that.

55:55Dakota Fanning:I went to the Gallatin School at NYU and yes my advisor was his name was Rahul Hamid and he was really one of the few film professors at Gallatin and yeah I got very lucky that he was my advisor and And I would do independent studies with him. I would I mean, I met with him every week of my life for like seven years. I mean, the relationship because I obviously did things at a slower pace. You know, I wouldn't take full loads. I would sometimes just do one thing a semester. I just was kind of plugging my way along living in New York, taking class. I just want to insert that in case in case you weren't going to mention like you studied at least part of the time women's portrayal in film.

56:46Yeah, we would do independent studies.

56:48Dakota Fanning:We would do we did like a Hitchcock independent study and would talk about all the different portrayals of the actresses in those movies. And then we would do we would talk about movies that are, you know, directed by women versus directed by men in the same genre and see if we could find any differences. I mean, you know, we and and that's what Gallatin encourages you to do is to get really specific and and kind of go deeper on that. And so, yeah, I did. I mean, I had classes with other professors, but I did a lot of it with Rahul. And he meant so much to me and he taught me so much personally and as a as a student.

57:26And like I said, I met with him every week, like literally for seven years. So, you know, I'd come in, I'd be like, oh my God, we're whole. Like, I mean, you know, it was just, it was, it was just, he knew so many things about what I was going through and he understood me and he always, um, he just, he just got it. Like he just, he was a really special person. He passed away a few years ago. And, um, but before I graduated, while I was still plugging along, I had just finished all my credits and at Gallatin, there's like this last thing that you have to do called a colloquium.

58:00Dakota Fanning:and it's the process to graduate and your advisor is at the center of doing the colloquium. And I was like, I can't, I went, because sometimes people say like, oh, he would have wanted you to. And I'm like, you know what, Rahul would have understood that I can't do it without him. And so I really got what I needed from my experience of going to college, meeting him, having him impact my life. I learned so much. I learned so much about who I am as a person, living on my own in New York City. And I'm just so grateful for that. Rahul is kind of a full circle thing too with the movie that I just did, but maybe you're going to ask me about that.

58:45Well, if you want, is this a good, if it's a good time?

58:48Dakota Fanning:Oh, well, no, I just, I did a movie with Joe Swanberg that just premiered at South by Southwest called The Sun Never Sets. You had done a previous one with Joe, right? No, never worked with Joe before. Okay, this is it. But I when I got the email that Joe wanted to meet with me about this idea that he has, I'd been introduced to Mumblecore and Joe Swanberg through Rahul Hamid. And he introduced me to Drinking Buddies and to lots of Joe's movies and all that genre. And so I was like, oh, I I hope Joe wants me to do this because it would really have meant a lot to Rahul. So anyway, that's great.

59:22So meanwhile, as you say, you continue to work during the time you were at NYU, including, you know, there were things, there were movies that were that had grown up elements before from Hound Dog to Runaways. but now like you're an essentially like an eco-terrorist in kelly reichardt's movie night moves 2013 i mean uh i mean maybe we should pause there because she is like kind of a interesting filmmaker who does not you know like narrative is less an exposition is sort of secondary to other stuff so i mean i guess yeah any thoughts on her still one of the greatest experiences i've

1:00:02Dakota Fanning:ever had making a movie was working with Kelly. And I just like the most badass, coolest person in the world. This was Jesse Eisenberg and Peter Sarsgaard. And it was really small and we all like shared one trailer. And like, you know, we would, it was like a big RV that was like hair and makeup, wardrobe, us, Kelly, like craft service. like I mean you know we're all like piling this RV like it just Jesse would drive me to work he was he even when he wasn't working he'd like pick me he'd drive me to set like it was just it was so fun and like what a movie making like family camaraderie experience can be and yeah Kelly I mean Kelly's just has the balls to have you know six minute scenes with no dialogue I mean you know And it's such a unique film, and she has such a unique way of storytelling, but it's so true and authentic to her, and I just loved getting to be a part of that, yeah.

1:01:11Another one, not long after, back in the 60s, playing the kind of troubled daughter of Ewan McGregor's character in his, I think, directorial debut, American Pastoral from Philip Ross' novel, Ocean's 8, a bit in there for Gary Ross' version of that. And then we get up to what I referenced in the intro about sort of you seem to have really gravitated to the limited series in the last handful of years. And, I mean, it makes sense that as the lines between film and TV have gotten more blurred, people who made their name in film may like their I guess better material is now obviously increasingly on tv but maybe you don't want to have an like you're saying from earlier like a six or seven year commitment to an ongoing series but like here you can get a great story and limited time commitment yeah so let's start with the alienist which said in the late 19th century you're playing basically like a female trailblazer in the nypd yeah like um it was a single limited series and then was well liked enough to have a second installment but anything about that one and

1:02:27Dakota Fanning:kind of as an adult working in that format for the yeah yeah it was it was my first time and it was sort of you know at that i filmed the the first one like 2017 and it was when like it felt like the most exciting things were were happening in the series world and um the distinct the line was getting blurred like you said and there wasn't really that much it felt like the distinction was just you know less clear and um I loved the story and loved the people and it felt it felt also So because sometimes like sometimes this doesn't get like enough importance isn't placed. Sometimes it also just like makes sense for your life.

1:03:15You know what I mean? Like where you want to be during the part of the year that the filming is required. Like sometimes there's just other factors that make it something that you want to do.

1:03:26Dakota Fanning:And so it really made sense for my life of I felt it was filming in Budapest and I went to Budapest and kind of had this little life for seven months in Budapest with those cast with that cast and um and yeah it was the first it was the first time I experienced like different directors for different blocks and how that feels having different energies and um and then you know just having more time to tell a story and spending a longer period of time with characters um so yeah I I had a dream experience on The Alienist. Before I go into the next limited series, there was in between the seasons of The Alienist, I believe, a little movie called Once Upon a Time in Hollywood with Quentin Tarantino.

1:04:16And you're one of the, what do we call the gang? Like the Manson family. We've had also previously here with us on the stage, Austin Butler, Mikey Madison. You guys had quite a group of talented young people. And I wonder just, you know, I think Tarantino is somebody that going years back, you'd wanted to work with. Was it what you expected?

1:04:45Dakota Fanning:And more. I mean, it was, that was such a dream director to work with. And I don't think anybody ever said it out loud. It was just something that I kept to myself. And yeah, I had to audition and Quentin does, he reads the scenes with you himself in the auditions, which actually totally made me more comfortable.

1:05:13Dakota Fanning:And I just went for it. I just really went for it in the audition and got the part. And I have never, I mean, it was, I almost to this day, I don't know if I've ever been more excited about any part that I've gotten than that. It was so just like fulfilling to get to be in the movie. And it was just a dream. I would have kept going and going and going. And that sequence, like, you know, it's a small sequence of the film. It did not, we filmed it for a while. And it was, they were like, I think you're going to, you're probably going to have to come back on Monday. I was like, um, love to, like absolutely love to.

1:06:02Dakota Fanning:Um, and talk about somebody who loves making movies. Um, just that, he just loves making movies and it's palpable, the excitement. And, um, I just, yeah, I could have, I could have kept going and going. I hope people are also just taking note as we go along of the number and variety of like great directors that you've worked with. Just so many. And as you say, from the, all different styles from the joe swanberg and kelly reichard yes yes all i'm very adaptable yeah i can fit in to many different styles well that i mean i guess with ripley is an interesting um one because this is now 2024 another limited series you're playing marge the woman who's sort of caught between the the playboy and the con artist and obviously this had been um done it had been the book it had been done in the 90s or early late 90s um with Gwyneth Paltrow in the part that you played um by the way incidentally I going you know prepping for this one of the things I came across I don't know if if uh this had been pointed out already but there was a 2004 New York Times article about up-and-coming young actresses and the header for yours was the new Gwyneth paltrow so here you were stepping into that obviously a different yes yes yes kind of uh portrayal but um that one will we should just note you get nominated for critics choice golden globe and emmy awards which as an adult i think was kind of um the first kind of real like this kind of well-deserved recognition so obviously really good for great performance and just take us into that one yeah I um I had heard that there was gonna be like through the grapevine there was gonna be a series of you know the talent of Mr.

1:07:55Dakota Fanning:Ripley and Steve's alien and whatever and I thought to myself I was like oh god I'd love to be in that that'd be so fun again didn't say it to anybody just maybe I should have but I didn't and um and then yeah I was it was like summer it was like oh god no it was like 2020 still maybe or like early 2021 so it was like COVID and just sort of figuring out what does working look like right now and what's gonna you know all that and yeah it was 20 it was early 2021 and um yeah I got this phone call that Steve Zalian wanted to speak with me about it and I think he had watched Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and for whatever reason that sparked something that um he wanted me to to consider this and so um I spoke with him on the phone he sent me all the scripts they were just the most unbelievable scripts I mean they were like reading a novel like I mean they just were written in such a unique way I just I was obsessed and I read them so fast I read all eight really really fast and I was like I can't he wanted me to to email him or call him when I'd finished and I was like if I do that right now, he's not going to believe me that I read them.

1:09:23I was like, I can't, I just need to, I was like, maybe I'll wait like an hour and a half. And I'd be like, no, I feel like that's too soon too. Like I just, so I kept like trying to figure out what was the appropriate time to have read eight scripts. And, um, and then, yeah, I got to be in it and, and very quickly. And it was obvious, he said this on the phone and then it was obvious from reading the scripts that he was wanting to make a true adaptation of the novel. He didn't want to remake the movie because the movie already exists and doesn't need to be remade. And I was very relieved to hear that

1:10:02Dakota Fanning:because sort of living up to Gwyneth as Marge was not something I was super excited to do. So I was happy that it was really going to have these characters be their own versions and that those those characters could live where they live. And that, you know, the Amalfi Coast was not going to be the sort of glamorous La Dolce Vita vibe. It was going to feel gray and heavy and be in black and white. And, you know, like all it was there was going to be so many differences. And I was like relieved because I'm such a fan of that movie. And so I just didn't want to have to like redo that. So I was happy that I didn't have to.

1:10:48Dakota Fanning:And that was just it's hard to even put the experience into words. It was so many different things. It was almost it was it was we worked on it for a really long time. and many different cities in Italy and was still during COVID. So that added another element. There was, I learned a lot about myself making that and working with Steve, I would do it again and again. He's the most particular specific director and writer I've ever met in my life. You just said Schindler's List. He wrote Schindler's List. He wrote Moneyball. He wrote Gangs of New York. You know, I mean, he's he's a brilliant writer.

1:11:31Dakota Fanning:And then he directed the limited series The Night Of with John Turturro and Riz Ahmed, wrote that as well. And and so, yeah, he is his attention to detail is just unlike anything I've ever seen. And there were definitely days where you're like, Steve, stop moving the water bottle, you know. But then I watched the series and he I watched it in a theater, all eight episodes straight through. Oh, really? Yeah. And I was like, I'm so happy you moved that water bottle. You know, I mean, you just it was you could see it brought to life like, you know, every frame could be a painting if you paused it.

1:12:13And the composition and the composition and the look of it is not the story isn't compromised. and the acting isn't compromised. And I felt really, really seen by him in a very particular way and captured by him in a way that I felt like had been unnoticed in the past by other people that I've worked with. And he really, we were like sharing a wavelength. And I'm just so grateful for it. And I love that. I just love the series so much. I remember walking out of it. But I was like, even if no one likes this, I do not care because I love it. You know, it was one of those. It just was seeing it all put together was very moving.

1:13:00That's great. There was in 2024 The Perfect Couple, another limited series. And then the one that we've screened the first episode of tonight. And I think I did the whole show in like a night or two. and that is all her fault which for anyone tuning in who hasn't been familiar yet you're playing Jenny Kaminsky woman whose son has a friend who the mother of whom thinks her son is at their house but turns out not to be because your character's nanny has taken off mysteriously with him. Yes. We won't give away more than that, but I mean, I guess the one good place to start is that the other mom is played by Sarah Snook, Shiv Roy from Succession.

1:13:57Yep. And you guys are just great in this together, and I wondered, did you know each other before? And if not, as it sounds like not, did you, I wonder, you know, to what extent they were able to do things chronologically on this because your character's relationship certainly um evolves a lot over the course of the show yeah for sure no we didn't know each other before had not had not met um or spent any time together I think maybe we'd met at a like party but like two seconds um but it was a she was a huge reason I wanted to be a part of it I

1:14:33Dakota Fanning:I was such a fan of hers and respect and admire her so much. And we did not shoot... The one thing that was sort of shot inadvertently chronologically, which was kind of cool, was the scene in the bathroom where we meet for the first time was both of our... It was the first day of production, and it was both of our first days. and so I think that was really nice for for us to see our to do the scene where our characters meet pre the drama and so kind of get to see who these women are and see their dynamic and see what made them connect and have sort of a moment of levity before it gets you know super dramatic um and so that was fun and then the only I mean uh Minky Spyro directed the first four episodes and then Kate Dennis directed the last four.

1:15:28Dakota Fanning:So we obviously filmed Minkies first, but out of order. It ends up just feeling like a long movie where you're jumping around to different scenes the way that you do in a film. But yeah, I was really excited to work with Sarah, excited to do a role I felt like was different than something I'd done before. I've played characters that, I've played a character, like I think it's only one character that has kids there's a movie called Brimstone that I did and I had a kid in in that and then the perfect couple I'm pregnant I do a lot of talking about the baby I'm gonna have um but this was like you know motherhood is is a central theme of the series and like a big part of who my character is and and um felt like I hadn't explored that and and I guess the thing that the two moms kind of bond over is the fact that they are working successful yeah women with kids who I guess a their husbands are kind of slackers and b they still feel a bit guilty or haunted for not being right yeah I think I could see like a lot of women that I know and in both of those characters and yeah just the pressure that you put on yourselves to be perfect and to have it all together and to not forget anything and to be a really great mom and a really great wife and a really great friend and a mom at the school that the other moms like and then go to work and not be late for meetings and not like mess up the meetings and then but then if you don't pick your kid up then you get I mean you just like it's impossible you know it feels impossible so I was yeah I could see a lot of people that I know in aspects of Sarah's character and my character and from the experience I've had since the show has aired I think that a lot of women have felt very seen by it and I think Jenny my character in particular has been a conduit for some silent rage of some women, which I like.

1:17:42Well, and there's a scene, I don't remember which episode, but in a car with her husband where she kind of lets him have it. Yeah, that was probably cathartic for some people. Yeah, that was on my last day of filming, funnily enough. So I was all building up to the very last day, and then, yeah, I just let it rip. Right. Right. One thing that I couldn't help but think about is since you haven't really had a toddler age child, except maybe in Brimstone, which I haven't seen. But what was it like for you to now be working with a child actor? Are there things from your own experience that you consciously try to apply with a with a child actor?

1:18:23Dakota Fanning:I didn't I mean because I what I what I appreciated growing up was being like valued and respected for the job that I was doing so I think I I mean again within reason but like I just sort of treat them normally how you would and you know be as helpful as I can and but they were young they were the little boys were really young yeah yeah yeah I'm almost about to turn this over to the students, but I just want to make sure we hit on a couple last things here. You mentioned that you are in the process of making the Nightingale. This is the first one with UNL. Yep. Also producing it through your company.

1:19:08Yep. I guess can you tease a little bit about what that's about and also, well, let's start there. The Nightingale? Give us a little tease.

1:19:18Dakota Fanning:Yeah, sure, yeah. It's based on a book written by Kristen Hanna, and it is set in World War II, and it's about two sisters.

1:19:29Dakota Fanning:And they're in the resistance during World War II in two very different ways, and it's a love story between the two of them. Nice. Okay, last thing for me is just a quick rapid fire. Do you remember not being famous? I remember the first time I was recognized. So, so yes, I do. What was, what was, what's Sam? I was at Century City Mall in the Gap. And I, uh, someone was with my mom and someone that worked at the Gap came up to me and said, are you, didn't know my name, but are you in that movie? I am Sam. And that was the, that was the first time that, yeah. But yes, I have memories pre, pre that.

1:20:15Dakota Fanning:But, and I remember that specific one. It's so funny that that one has stuck. It is. Is there anything you know now that you wish you'd known when you were a child actor?

1:20:27Dakota Fanning:No, because I think that I, it's like me watching that video. I don't want to change her. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's perfect. Totally. You know, I don't want to change her and make her feel, you know, it's like any of us watching a home video where you're like, ah, I'm cringe. Like it's, you know, but you don't want to, I don't want to change. I don't want to change her. Do you think it would have been easier or harder for you if you were a child actor today? Oh, probably. I just think life is harder today. So I think everyone everything's a bit harder. But I did get the luxury of of becoming a known person before social media.

1:21:05Dakota Fanning:And I do think that that preserves a part of you. And as we know, social media can be used for so much good. but then it can also just expose you to a lot of things, and that would have been, I think that would have been hard. Is there anything that you specifically that you haven't yet done, an accomplishment, a story, a collaborator, anything you haven't yet done that you specifically want to do before you retire? Before I retire? I used to be asked about how young I was, and no, we're talking about retirement.

1:21:48There's so many things. I mean, listen, like I said, I always try and find something that I feel like I haven't done before and it can be so small. I mean, it can be something really small that I pick out of something. But there's, I mean, there's endless people that I would love to work with and endless people I'd want to work with again. I don't, and I think for me, I'm just, I'm like very in it's, it's an instinct. It's from the gut. Like sometimes I don't even know what that is until it's right in front of me. You know, I wish I was more of a person that could like make some list of goals and like try.

1:22:27I just, just not me. It's just not me. I don't know what it is until it's there. And then I'm like, that's it. That's it. That's it. I got it. You know? And that's just how I am.

1:22:37Dakota Fanning:But, yeah, just, Elle and I are very passionate about, with our company, producing things that we're not also in. We really want to make things that we're also not in, movies, series, have opportunities for, you know, actors that we admire. Last one for me. If you had not become a professional actor, what do you think your life, how do you think your life would have unfolded? God, I think I do think about this all the time because I do have memories of I went to like I said, I went to a Montessori school in Georgia and. I would I would never go as far as to say, like, oh, I didn't fit in. I was fine.

1:23:24We were all little and no problem. But I did feel like a little. different and I wonder how that would have how how that would have been you know how how that

1:23:38Dakota Fanning:would have been growing up in in Georgia um if I didn't have something to really put my esteem into and to gain confidence from um yeah I don't I don't know and maybe it could have been great I have no idea my my the line that my family says is that they think I should have been an attorney and that I missed my true calling from being an attorney, which they don't mean as a compliment. I think it means I'm combative and argumentative with them. It's all worked out beautifully. Thank you. Thank you for this part, and we are now going to turn it over to, first of all, Sterling Jarens of the Creative Producing Track.

1:24:26Okay.

1:24:30Hi. Hi. Thank you so much for being here today.

1:24:33Dakota Fanning:Am I looking the right, are you this way? I'm right over here. Oh yeah, okay good, hi. My question is, okay, I'm sorry. My question is, has your approach to acting changed since you were a child, technique wise? Yeah, not really, for better or for worse.

1:24:55No, I've never been an actor that like, if there's something that I have to learn or a skill that I need to prepare or something like that, I'll do that. But everything is just sort of in my own mind and I just approach it like you're using your imagination

1:25:11Dakota Fanning:and playing pretend. and I definitely feed off actually being there and like working with other actors and with directors and being like it doesn't feel real until I'm actually working on something and so sort of thinking about it beforehand I find I can't it's like unless I'm under pressure to do it it's almost like I can't think about it if that makes sense and so no I mean I think that's how I approached it when I was younger I approached it as imagining what a person would do in the situation that you're presented with in the scene and I still pretty much do that and keep that part of it like the technique and the preparation and all that I keep that pretty simple I think and I think it probably does come from starting so young from screen acting track, Kaya Owensi.

1:26:17Hi. Thank you again for being here. We all appreciate it so much. Thank you. Do you think that actors who start working professionally younger have an advantage over those who start older? Um, I don't know.

1:26:35Dakota Fanning:I wouldn't change my life. I can speak for myself. I wouldn't change it. And I, like I said, I felt like I gained so much esteem and like confidence from the experience that I've had and being able to do it for a long length of time. So I wouldn't change that. I mean, I suppose there's a lot to, I mean, there's so much to learn when you are making a movie that sometimes you can't, you know, how do you hit a mark without looking down at it? I mean, you know what I mean? And like, there's just those little things, you know, it's like, you can't put your shoulder in front of someone else's close up.

1:27:16I mean, there's just like, so those things that you kind of have to learn from being on the job and in the moment, it's hard to teach that you kind of have to feel it. And I think that like my muscle for that started so young. So I think there's a lot of things that I just do that I don't even realize I'm doing because just because it's in my body because of the length of time. But that's not to say that somebody can't learn it at any, you know, and get that feeling or that muscle to grow.

1:27:50Dakota Fanning:So I don't know. But for me, I wouldn't change it. Like, I don't wish I started later at all. From writing for film and TV track, Farrah Bryant.

1:28:04Hello. Hey. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you. I'm just a big fan of Uptown Girls. Yes, thank you. Yeah, my question is, how did being a part of the business as a kid affect your movie watching experience growing up? And would you watch something thinking about how it was shot and edited? Were you able to still lose yourself in a movie like most kids?

1:28:25Dakota Fanning:No. I've never been asked that before, and it's so true. I did. I would start thinking about, like, I now have this, maybe I maybe you guys don't want to hear it but it's my it like I imagine you know when people are in a movie or on a show and like they're going to bed and they're getting comfortable and you know whatever like or it could be anything and I'm like they shot that at 5 45 a.m. like you know it's just like sometimes you're like or you know you're always like I always feel like making a making something it's it's the wrong temperature for whatever it's supposed to be in the script it's boiling hot when it's supposed to be freezing and it's freezing when it's boiling hot like all the time and so I'll be like it was cold it was cold I I know that they were cold um so yeah sometimes I would I would like see think about the behind the scenes moment and maybe but again but it just becomes a different experience it's okay and now like I can I can watch things and lose myself but it was it's also helpful when you're watching scary things when you're young you're like oh it's not it's definitely not real i know what that's like yeah uh grace reinerson of creative producing track hi how are you thank you so much for being here thank you um my question is in the past you have done some voice acting with roles like satsuki and in my neighbor and totoro and coralline which obviously we all love um what were some of your favorite moments while voicing those characters and also what are the challenges of voice acting when compared to doing in person yeah um I guess the most fun is the most challenging like the most fun is that you I think in especially in the kind of movies that I made when I was young they were like a lot of the times kind of serious or dramatic or you're you're you're trying to be natural you don't want to be like over the top or you know anything and when you're voice acting in in those things you can be really loud and big and sometimes you have to be to get the emotion across and so that was really fun especially as like you know a young girl you got to like bring a lot of energy to it and like really go for it and that was and that was fun but then sometimes it was challenging for me because that was against my instinct as an actor and so you kind of have to separate you're like okay I'm not doing I'm not I'm not doing these scenes how I would if I were acting them in a live action movie you kind of you know can take more risks and be a bit bigger and more broad and stuff so that was the that was the fun part and the challenging part for me from writing for film and tv Sam Routzen

1:31:23Hi. Hey. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you. My question is, how do you and your sister, Elle, lean on and support each other, given that you're both working actresses? And what is the most valuable lesson that you've learned from each other?

1:31:37Dakota Fanning:Oh, wow. Well, we lean on each other so much for everything. I mean, there's just, there's, it's it's so special to have my sibling do the exact same thing so there's no explanation that's needed you can say one thing and she knows exactly what that means and vice versa and so that is just invaluable and I don't take it for granted I think we're both very different we have different strengths and weaknesses as people and and even sometimes like professionally and so because we they're opposite they're almost opposite strengths and weaknesses so we're able to like pick the other one up and lean on the other one and it's it's just it's the best thing ever and what I've learned from her I don't know what she's learned from me yeah you'll have to invite her and you can ask her You can ask her what she's learned from me.

1:32:41Dakota Fanning:But what I've learned from her,

1:32:46to me, and I think I've actually changed because of it. I think I've actually shifted because she's so free. I mean, she's so free as a person.

1:33:00Dakota Fanning:And that was always our trope. She was the free spirit, and I was the kind of more practical, like not I mean I'm not uptight but like you know the more serious one the serious older one and she's the like loose free spirit wild wild child and that was our dynamic always growing up and then there was like a little bit of a shift where I sort of started to absorb some of her like free spirit wild child and she got a little more buttoned up and I was like what like it just and and and but but I think that I absorbed some of that from her and like when I watch her like in the great specifically there's a scene where she dances as Catherine and it ends up it actually ended up being the series finale scene and there's a longer version of it that she showed me and the freedom as an actor that she possesses I just admire so much and so I've learned a lot from her in that way.

1:34:05Emma Kinkel from Public Relations Advertising and Entertainment Marketing. hi hey you're so iconic thank you but i loved you in the watchers yes yes love it thank you um my question is have you and l ever auditioned for the same role we have well there's a funny anecdote like she she didn't audition for the same role in the last season of friends but she did audition for a role in friends and she didn't get it and i found out recently that she would not watch Friends and meet on Friends because she was so upset. And I hadn't realized that. There have been like a couple things over the years where a person has wanted to see us both, but neither one of us have gotten it.

1:35:00So, you know, so it's not, there's not like something I could point to. There's been a couple things over the years, but I do feel if you want Elle, If you want Elle, you don't want Dakota,

1:35:13Dakota Fanning:and if you want Dakota, you don't. I think we're very different, so there hasn't been too many of those instances. Alexis Minor, MFA Screenwriting. Hi. Hey. I'm a big fan. Thank you. So what would you say was your most challenging role as an actress, and what was your process to help you embody the role?

1:35:44Dakota Fanning:They're all, I mean, they're all challenging because you're trying to find a way to be not yourself, you know, like they're, and some, by the way, sometimes the hardest, sometimes the hardest thing to do is to play a character like Jenny in All Her Fault, because there's, you do look like a person, there's nothing that's, that's visibly different from you. It's like, okay, in The Alienist, I have like a corset and like a big dress, like there's things that you can kind of grab onto that differentiate the character from yourself and then sometimes when you're just playing like a person that could be you a normal person that can feel overwhelming because you're like well I still have to differentiate this person from me without any kind of any kind of thing to hold on to so sometimes I find that the most challenging they've all been challenging for different you know they've just all been challenging for different reasons and they can and they're not always like because of the material they could be like oh you're in a location that you didn't love or like you're having a hard time personally but still having to go into work and you know so there's been a they're they're all challenging in their own in their own way I wish I had a better answer for you I promise I'll try and think of one people have asked me before but it just they're all they're all difficult you know and that's and and I like them to be from film and tv production MFA uh Hunter Gulliet

1:37:16hi Dakota it's so nice to meet you nice to meet you my question for you is since you and Ella have been running your own production company now when looking for a project to produce what's one quality that you look for in the project that makes it undeniable for you? I think something that, well, not, something that I really like, and I think Elle does too, this is not all it takes, but like a big thing is we like to surprise people. We like to do things

1:37:45Dakota Fanning:or be a part of a project that people might not expect us to want to be a part of or immediately connect us with. And so I like, you know, like Margo's Got Money Troubles is a good example, you know, of like this story about like a girl who turns into an OnlyFans creator. I don't know if they would necessarily associate, you know what I mean? But like that is like, we just jumped at it immediately. And we're so excited by all the different, you know, layers of that story. And And so, yeah, we like to do things that people might not expect us to want to do or to be into. And I think things that are unique and, you know, that are original and feel like something you haven't seen before.

1:38:36Dakota Fanning:I feel like that's something that I say a lot. I just always want to be surprised. I want to watch things that I haven't seen before. I don't want to be able to figure out the stories, you know. I want to find things that are different. And so, yeah, I think Elle and I, we're always wanting to find things that feel original. Well, you are clearly a big inspiration to so many of these kids and all of us. And thank you so much for making the time to come up here and do this. Thanks for having me. I really appreciate it. This has been so much fun. Thank you. Thank you.