Dakota Fanning explains why she’s different from other former child stars

Dakota Fanning was just a kid when she starred in films like I Am Sam, Uptown Girls and Man on Fire, alongside the likes of Sean Penn, the late Brittany Murphy and Denzel Washington, but now she is she’s all grown up herself and a respected actress.

Fanning has had a long career, starting in television at the age of five (she’s now 30). But unlike many child stars, she was able to avoid the dramatic rise and fall that so many young actors fall prey to.

Even though she managed to avoid tabloid attention for deviant behavior, Fanning says she couldn’t avoid the media’s “extremely inappropriate questions.”

10 FORMER CHILD STARS open up about life in the spotlight

“I remember journalists asking me in interviews when I was young, ‘How do you avoid becoming a tabloid girl?’ “People were asking completely inappropriate questions,” she said in a new interview with The Cut. “As a kid, I was in a job interview and someone asked, ‘How did you even have friends?’ It is like that, isn’t it?”

“I have great compassion for people who have been made into role models,” she continued.

The generation before Fanning included stars Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, all of whom had their fair share of problems.

“If society and the media hadn’t done their part, who knows? I don’t think it’s necessarily 100% related to being in this business; there are other factors too. I just didn’t fall for it, and I don’t know the exact reasons, except that my family is made up of very nice, friendly and caring people.”

Dakota and Elle Fanning both had successful acting careers in childhood and adulthood. (John Nacion/FilmMagic/Getty Images)

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“People were asking completely inappropriate questions. I was in a job interview as a kid and someone asked, ‘How can you even have friends?’ It is like that, isn’t it?”

–Dakota Fanning

Fanning’s younger sister Elle is also an acclaimed actress.

“I have a mother who taught me how to treat other people and also myself. And she was there every second. I was always treated with respect. It was never, “Bring the child in!” Get it out there!” I didn’t work with people who treated me like that – I was as respected as an actor as one can be at that age. When I look 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 conflict with work, and I’m so grateful to be there doing work that matters.

Dakota Fanning says she sometimes felt like people wanted her to fail. (Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images)

Fanning admitted she was disturbed by the public’s fascination with embattled child stars.

“That’s the thing. It’s like, ‘Do you want this to happen to me somehow? Do you want this to happen to these people?’ I definitely felt that kind of vibe when people almost wanted me to fail or something. It gives you a bit of a feeling that I’m just living my life here.

“I also think I was just a bit too young for it to have fully affected me. So that was good. People couldn’t get away with something like that as much anymore. By the time I got to the age it was okay to recognize that it’s probably not the best way to treat people.”

“I have a mother who taught me how to treat other people and also myself.”

–Dakota Fanning

Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning, who starred together in “War of the Worlds,” pose at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards. (KMazur/WireImage/Getty Images)

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“I also have a bit of a separation. I think this might be special for me. Work is what I like. The stuff that comes with it, that part of it, is not what I like that much. I don’t like it.” “Don’t dress to walk down the street. That’s just not me. And the other things that come with it are things that you kind of have to deal with.”

Dakota Fanning says she views acting as a job, not a lifestyle. (Steven Ferdman/WireImage/Getty Images)

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In 2020, The Perfect Couple actress told Fox News Digital that her love for her craft also helped keep her on the right track.

“I think I have always maintained my pure love for what I do. Do you know? When you start so young, it’s really like fantasy and you use your imagination and it’s like a heightened version. “I think that’s how I’ve always approached it… It’s supposed to be fun.”

Dakota Fanning waves on the carpet in 2007. (Mark Sullivan/WireImage/Getty Images)

Now, after 25 years in the industry, Fanning said she has no regrets about that part of her life as a child star.

“I’m pretty happy with who I was back then. I don’t look back and have no regrets,” she told The Cut. “I never let public perception or anything like that really influence my decisions and I just tried to stay true to myself. I’m pretty proud of my former self.”

Dakota Fanning says she has no regrets about her youth. (Vince Bucci/Getty Images)