Elle Fanning is opening up about her career and her personal life.
The 28-year-old Margot’s Got Money Troubles actress spoke out in a new cover story for Elle UK, out now, and hitting newsstands on April 16.
During the discussion, Elle spoke about her child star days, her relationship with sister and fellow actor Dakota Fanning, working with Michelle Pfeiffer, her boyfriend Gus Wenner, and her future aspirations, among many other topics.
Keep reading to find out more…
On growing since her days as a child actor:
“It can be hard when you’re a child actor; you’re often more of the observer, watching others get the big parts. I was desperate to get to finally be the one that was being watched.”
On wanting to adapt the bestselling book Margo’s Got Money Troubles into a show:
“I was able to get my hands on the book early and fell in love with it. I could see how it could become a show, so then we had to fight for it.”
On the parallels between her and her character Margo:
“You can dream up a path for yourself; a big plan of what you see your future looking like. I’m someone who does that, maybe to a fault sometimes. About what I want to happen or where I want to be at a certain age. Sometimes those things do come true. In Margo’s case, she’s presented with these surprises and at every point makes the most difficult decision. Instead of wallowing, she perseveres and pushes through, and it makes her better. I love her optimism in tackling the hard stuff.”
On her close bond with co-star Michelle Pfeiffer:
“She’s one of my favourite people and one of the closest people in the business to me. Michelle’s been a part of every chapter, and now she finally got to play my mom. We text all the time. I go over to her house and have pizza-and-champagne nights. They are full of gossip.”
On not confusing her optimism with naivety:
“Sometimes, optimism can be seen as immature. People say to me, ‘You don’t know yet; you’ll see.’ But I have seen a lot. I have been through hardships. It’s how you tackle those things that makes you who you want to be. I am soft, yes, but I also have a temper.”
On being in her ‘Saturn return’ growth era:
“Someone told me recently I’m in my Saturn return. I feel that shift in myself; I’m not apologizing for parts of me anymore.”
On how her character in The Great pushed her out of her comfort zone:
“[That character] taught me about my womanhood, because she’s so strong. She’s also the closest to my true personality. The experience molded me and pushed me to my limits. I got a lot more comfortable with [the comedy genre]. It’s so hard to tell a joke and hit it. I had to be able to fully embarrass myself and not be selfish.”
On being very close to sister Dakota:
“I wouldn’t be able to survive without my sister; we talk every single day. We have really, truly, become best friends. The age gap is basically nonexistent at this point.”
On her upcoming project, The Nightingale, which will be her first on-screen film with sister Dakota:
“I don’t think that the relationship is going to change all that much on set. It can’t – we know each other too well. At the same time, we have talked about how she can’t boss me around and has to treat me like she would any other actor. But I think it will add another layer to playing the characters because we don’t have to work on the bond.”
On her boyfriend of three years, executive chairman of Rolling Stone Gus Wenner:
“He’s come into my life and he grounds me. He will be like, we need to do a getaway this weekend, so he’ll plan something for us. I love him so much. He feels like a family member – like, my sister loves him, and my mom.”
On being romantic about all things in life:
“I’m a sucker for romance and I’m a sentimental person. I love objects and little reminders of the past to mark chapters in my life. I save every note that my boyfriend has given me.”
On working with designer Sarah Burton for her recent Oscars outfit:
“She’s another special woman in my life; she’s made a lot of very special dresses for me. She really loves women and understands women’s bodies; how we want to present. There’s femininity, but a lot of power and sharpness to it.”
On future aspirations:
“I’ve always just wanted that [a family], the baby-fever [on Margo] was nuts.”
For more, head to elle.co.uk.
She also stars in the new Hunger Games movie, which just revealed a new trailer!
