THE NIGHTINGALE Stars Elle and Dakota Fanning Cover VANITY FAIR October Issue

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Elle and Dakota Fanning have spent their entire lives acting. But unlike many other child stars, the pair has steered clear of professional and personal pitfalls. Their secret? A bond that the tough Hollywood business can’t break.

The sisters rarely give an interview together, but in a new cover story for VANITY FAIR’s October issue, Elle and Dakota reveal what it was like growing up in a shared spotlight, their biggest fears growing up in the public eye, and the remarkable closeness they share as adults.

This fall, the sisters will produce and star in THE NIGHTINGALE – their very first time as onscreen costars. Dakota will also star in the Peacock limited series ALL HER FAULT, and Elle appears in Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value and the sci-fi thriller, PREDATOR:BADLANDS.

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Elle, on the sisters’ evolving professional dynamic…

“When we were younger, we wanted to make sure that people saw us differently, and we wanted to give each other space to carve our own path. But as adults, it’s been very fulfilling to merge.”

Dakota, on competing with her sister…

“We obviously share a lot [including a stylist and publicist] but we’re very different. So I don’t even see something that’s right for her as being right for me. I don’t feel competitive. But I know that people probably don’t believe that.”

Elle’s views on missing out on a normal upbringing…

“Yet onscreen and in conversation, the sisters somehow radiate normalcy. Why aren’t they more… ‘Fucked up?’ says Elle, finishing the question. She leans back in her chair, taking a drag from an imaginary cigarette. ‘We’re like, ‘we’re so fucked up. You don’t even know the half.’ She laughs.

‘But seriously: ‘Even though we were so young in this business, I don’t feel like I missed out on anything. People want us to feel like we missed out. They love that narrative.”

Dakota, on growing up in an era of peak tabloid culture…

“Your biggest concern was being the worst dressed in the back of Us magazine. We’d always get them at the airport or the airport or in the nail salon. I’m nine, flipping [pages] like, ‘Is my out- fit on there?’ It was not, most of the time.”

“OceanUp was brutal. Eventually I told friends of mine, just don’t put any photos on the internet. I have no photos from that time.” “I definitely had my guard up. It wasn’t even really about ‘This will ruin my career.’ I don’t want to get in trouble with my mom. “It wasn’t about the public—it was Joy Fanning.”

Elle wearing the “nepo” badge proudly…

“I just want to do everything that she does. I’m a nepo sister. Of course I got opportunities because people are like, Oh, it’s Dakota Fanning’s sister. We’ll see her audition.”

Dakota, on the sisters’ bond…

“If I lost every friend I have on the planet …If everyone in my life stopped talking to me, I’d be devastated. But if I still had my sister, I’d be like, ‘Well, I have her.’”

The Fannings’ cover story is available on VF.com now and on newsstands September 23.

[Photo Credit: Inez and Vindoodh/Vanity Fair]

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