Dakota Fanning on Growing Up in Hollywood, Sisterhood, and Defining Adulthood for Byrdie Magazine

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Dakota Fanning has spent most of her life in the spotlight, but now, she’s ready to take control of her own story. In her exclusive BYRDIE cover story, the actor and producer opens up about growing up under the microscope, teaming up with her sister Elle for their first film together, and why she’s looking forward to starting a family.

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On wanting to have kids soon:

“Every year that goes by, you’re more in tune with who you are and with what you want and don’t want,” she says. “I’m associating this decade with the next part of my life. I’ve always wanted to have kids—that’s something I’ve never questioned and has always been really important to me. So, hopefully, dating will end soon, and this next decade will bring that into my life.”

On working with her sister Elle for the first time on The Nightingale film:

“For a while, [Elle and I] were very conscious of carving our own paths and being really selective about the things that we did together,” she says. “We don’t feel that pressure anymore. We’ve established that we’re two different people with two different journeys. It’s the best to be able to come together now. We’re very excited about [The Nightingale]. A little nervous but excited.”

“Getting to produce things through our company in all different spaces has been so exciting,” she says. “[Elle and I] have different strengths and weaknesses, but at the core, we’re the same. We have the same vision and mission. It’s also exciting to figure out the things to be a part of together and the things that we should do separately. I couldn’t ask for a better person to do this with.”

On being in the spotlight from such a young age and attached labels like “wise beyond her years:”

“This narrative was placed on me,” she says. “Everything I said or did that made people say that about me was just who I was and who I am. I know it’s not a bad thing, but it felt so heavy and negative to me. I definitely have gone through times where I’m like, ‘I’m just the age that I am.’ I’m still learning about myself, and I’m not going to be perfect all the time. I’m not going to make the ‘wise beyond your years’ choice at every step. I’ve definitely had times where I’ve had to work through that. But very fortunately, I’ve always had a strong sense of myself and a healthy ability to block out what feels untrue or too heavy. I’m good at compartmentalizing.”

On society’s opinions of the roles she takes at any given age or stage of her career:

“It’s interesting because people often have opinions about what my ‘first adult role’ has been, but honestly, I’m still not sure,” she says. “You might think my first adult role should be the first movie I did as an adult, but for me, it doesn’t feel that simple. The truth is, I don’t really think about my career that way. I’m not just floating through life—I make choices and do things at certain points in my life—but I’m also a very instinctual person. The projects I’ve done haven’t come from some overarching plan or strategy; it’s been a very instinctual process. And when you lead with instinct, it ends up piecing together in a way that makes sense.”

On her minimalist approach to fashion:

“I’ll still wear a floral dress or something on the wilder side every once in a while,” she says. “But as a rule, I don’t want to look back at pictures of myself—not even just red-carpet photos, but any photo—in 20 years and be like, ‘What was that?'”

“I’m way more of an accessories person than a clothes person in my everyday life,” she says. “So if I only had a great pair of jeans and a T-shirt to wear every single day, I could totally get by and adjust [my look] with bags, shoes, or jewelry. So that was the fun part about my Madewell collection. It’s these basic staples that fit really well and you can wear them any place, any time, and make it your own.”

On how her signature blonde hair is central to her sense of identity:

“My hair is the thing that I will hold on to to bring me back to myself,” she says. “I love to keep my hair long. I’m also a natural blonde. I obviously color it, but my base is still naturally blonde. I just identify with my hair so much, so anytime it’s changed, I don’t feel like myself. The last few projects I’ve done have just been my hair, which is nice because you can bring yourself to set.”

[Photo Credit: Katie McCurdy/Byrdie]

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