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Saving The World, One Fanning at a Time
November 1, 2007. By 'The Hookup' blogger Arlan

Monday, while on a rare solo mission to get breakfast at a little cafe near my apartment, I ran into Elle Fanning, Dakota Fanning's 9-year-old sister. It was a chance encounter that has me re-thinking my career goals. I'm thinking that this whole professional lesbian thing is cool, but I need to add nanny and life coach to my resume!

I first noticed little Elle while she was singing (beautifully, I might add) to herself while checking out the cafe's cake and pie selection. Then when she turned around and caught me listening to her, she smiled at me and I instantly recognized her as the little girl from a particularly intense episode of Law & Order: SVU.

Much like her older sister, Elle is definitely a woman trapped in a little girl's body. I swear I felt like I was talking to my college professor...and I didn't even have a college professor! The good thing is, she ain't creepy and obnoxious like some of those little genius kids can be. She seemed very well adjusted. The only difference between her at age 9 and me at age 9 is that she just wrapped filming The Nutcracker movie while in Budapest for 4 months, and I had just finished learning the hard way that my right eyebrow would not grow back in a few hours if I used my mom's razor to shave it.

I don't want Elle or Dakota to stray and be all Drew Barrymore circa '85. I'm sure the Fanning family is reading this, so I want to publicly announce my bid to be the Fanning's nanny-slash-real-life coach.

Elle seemed to be extremely grounded and "normal" and like she was being nurtured by a loving family. there didnt seem to be any signs of exploitation... ya know, in the 5 minutes I spent with her and her grandma at a cafe!

Seriously though, the way she explained to me her filming her last role in Budapest, she might as well have been saying she went to camp for the summer and made macaroni necklaces. she didnt seem to think it was more special than what someone else her age would do. And she was very excited to be recognized for a show she did months ago.

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