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MEDIA > ARTICLES > FYI: THE FANNING SISTERS
FYI: A beginner's guide to the modern world
The Fanning Sisters by Cindy MacDonald
Who are they? Following in the footsteps of Macauley Culkin (Home Alone, Richie Rich) and Mara Wilson (Mrs Doubtfire, Miracle on 34th Street), 11-year-old Dakota Fanning and her sister Elle, 7, are the latest child acting sensations in Hollywood.
What have I seen them in? Dakota shot to prominence alongside Sean Penn in I Am Sam (2001), then went on to star in The Cat in the Hat (2003) with Mike Myers, and Man on Fire with Denzel Washington (2004). Now she's in the Steven Spielberg blockbuster War of the Worlds, playing Tom Cruise's daughter. Next year she'll appear as Fern in Charlotte's Web, and she's lined up for a couple of gigs as Lewis Carroll's Alice. Elle (who played a younger version of Dakota's I Am Sam character) recently lit up the screen with Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger in the melancholy The Door in the Floor.
Is there a precedent? Well, movie star siblings are nothing new. In the 1960s there were Hayley and Juliet Mills, and a role in the TV sitcom Full House turned twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen into mega rich moguls (with their own clothing line). For a more mature dose of familiar talent, tune into the Gyllenhaals - Maggie and her younger brother Jake - and Natasha and Joely Richardson.
Fanning the flames... As well as winning great critical reviews, the girls are a hit with fellow cast and crew. "Dakota's a combination of Judy Garland in Wizard of Oz and Meryl Streep," said Mike Myers. The Door in the Floor director Tod Williams said of Elle: "I met a sea of four- and five-year-olds, and she was the only one who knew the difference between acting in a make-believe world and the real world."
Does Australia have an equivalent? The standout contender is Johanna Hunt-Prokhovnik, who starred alongside David Wenham and Frances O'Connor in Three Dollars. At The Movies co-host Margaret Pomeranz described her as "amazing", voicing her surprise that the Fanning-esque performer was home-grown. "I thought they only produced them in America," she exclaimed. "They must have shipped a pod out here..."
Transcript taken from Good Weekend magazine (June 25 2005 edition). All rights reserved.
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