The Nines
Character: Noelle Banks
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Reservation Road
Character: Emma Learner
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Phoebe in Wonderland
Character: Phoebe Lichten
Release: Sep 12, 2008
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Benjamin Button
Character: Daisy
Release: Dec 19 2008
Site: Official

Vivaldi
Character: Cristina
Release: 2008
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Character: Anastasia
Release: 2008
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Nutcracker: The Untold Story
Character: Mary
Release: Christmas 2009
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July 2008

"Oh well I think she's just really imaginative, and she's really creative and uhm.. she's just very artistic in a way. So I just think she's.. I want to be like Phoebe! I think everyone should be more like Phoebe"
-Elle on her character in "Phoebe in Wonderland" (aged 9).

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BABEL

Stats

Elle plays: Debbie

Additional Cast: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Rinko Kikuchi, Gael Garcia Bernal, Adriana Barraza, Nathan Gamble.

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu

Written by: Guillermo Arriaga

Release Date: October 27 (USA)

Genre: Drama

Rated: R (USA)

Related Images

Synopsis

A story crossing borders, languages, and generational divides, Babel tells four interconnecting stories taking place across three different countries, all ultimately tying together in reflection of a common humanity. The first story revolves around married couple Richard and Susan, who have become lost even from each other after the death of their child. Two Moroccan boys are given a gun by an elder, and in target practice hit Susan by accident. Among fears of a terrorist attack, Richard must care for his wife in the remote village with only sparse medical aid available.

At his home in America, the nanny Amelia is caring for his children Debbie and Mike. She is so anxious to attend the wedding of her son in Mexico that she enlists the help of her nephew to drive there, taking the children with her. The situation goes from bad to worse when they become trapped on the other side of the border - protected neither by the American, nor Mexican government. Lost in the desert, Amelia must take desperate measures. The final story takes place in the busy streets of Tokyo, where a deaf mute teenage girl, Chieko, rebels against her father. In her silent world, Chieko shows the loneliness and isolation of a child unable to communicate - on a fundamental level - with her parent.

Elle's Character

Debbie is the onscreen daughter of Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. Her brother, Mike, is played by Nathan Gamble. When the children's mother (Cate Blanchett) is accidentally shot, while in North Africa, their father is unable to come home. Amelia, their nanny, is desperate to attend the marriage of her son in Mexico, so she takes her two young charges (Mike and Debbie) across the border, driven by her nephew (Gael Garcia Bernal). Despite the language barrier, the children are welcomed at the wedding - but trouble awaits when they try to re-cross the border, when "miscommunication leads to panic", and the nanny and her young charges are stranded in the desert. They become one of the "invisible citizens" - unprotected by immigration laws, lost between borders.

Trivia

. Although she plays the daughter of Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, Elle never had the chance to meet them on set.

. The cast and crew battled extreme heat during filming on the Mexican/Californian border. Five of the crew were sent to hospital, and Adriana Barraza (who plays Elle's nanny) almost suffered heatstroke.

. To make the film feel culturally realistic, the director used many local people as actors. Some of them had never seen a film camera before.

. The wedding scenes in Mexico were designed to be shown through the eyes of the two American children, Debbie and Mike. This was to avoid the prejudices some adults may have about the Mexican way of life. Says the director, "what can be judged as dirty, eccentric and poor, in the eyes of kids can be playful, colorful, different and fun."

. Elle filmed her scenes on location in Mexico for 6 weeks, starting in August 2005.

. The name of Elle's body double for Babel is Emilia McCarthy.

Notable Quotes

"This film is all about connections between parents and children, which I think so many of us understand. It felt very personal for me as well as for Alejandro. Being a parent, when you see a child in danger, particularly with an irresponsible nanny, it engages me, it's like pulling the roots of my system out. It's very distressing."
- Cate Blanchett ('Susan')

"Elle Fanning is more mature than me I think, that’s scary sometimes, they are like little adults."
- Alejandro Gonzallez Inarritu (Director)

"There was a point in the film where the Mexican kids were playing tag with Nathan [Gamble] and Elle [Fanning], and they were just kids, they were mingling together. As a child you don’t question differences. They’re the first ones to reinforce the fact that we are all the same."
- Gael Garcia Bernal ('Santiago')