ROTTEN TOMATOES: Dakota Fanning and Sis To Play Disabled Siblings

Dakota Fanning and Sis To Play Disabled Siblings

by Jen Yamato | February 09, 2007

Dakota Fanning is carving out quite the career for herself. She'll follow up the controversial Sundance flick "Hounddog" (you know, the "Dakota Fanning Rape Movie") by playing one half of a real-life duo of disabled girls; younger sister Elle will also star.

The eleven-year-old Fanning (who turns a mature 12 this month) made headlines last month by playing an Elvis-loving rape victim in Deborah Kampmeier's "Hounddog," though critics mostly agreed that the scene in question wasn't all that scandalous. Conservatives didn't care, calling for a block of the movie and the arrest of the adults involved. Even state officials threw their opinions into the mix.

Fanning, making right wingers uncomfortable in "Hounddog"

Now Fanning is planning another controversial role with "Hurricane Mary," the true story about a mother's fight to give her disabled twins a public school education. Fanning will star alongside Patricia Clarkson, Chris Cooper, William H. Macy, and Laura San Giacomo in the pic, while her look-alike eight-year-old sister Elle ("Babel") will play her twin sister.

Set to direct is Tony award-winning director Arvin Brown, who also has an extensive career in television ("Picket Fences," "Ally McBeal," "The Closer"). The script is written by actress Marianne Leone, who is married to Chris Cooper.

Production on the film (listed in IMDB under the title "Conquistadora") begins in New York in September; the 2008 film seems likely to debut on the festival circuit once completed.

The screen vet in lighter, more family-friendly fare...

The ever-busy elder Fanning's also got a few more juicy roles on her plate (whoever manages this girl is a project-picking genius), including the title role in Henry Selick's ("The Nightmare Before Christmas") "Coraline," from the Neil Gaiman book, and the still-in-development book adaptation "The Secret Life of Bees." Oh, and come Oscar time, she'll be busy -- she is the youngest member of the Academy (unless voters this month go for the two-years-younger Abigail Breslin).

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Celeb:	Patricia Clarkson
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	Elle Fanning
	Deborah Kampmeier

(1-11 of 11 posts) | Reply

warsaw writes:
on Feb 09 2007 01:24 PM

the hel with fanning and abigail its all about ivana baquero!!!!!!!!!!

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gerke writes:
on Feb 09 2007 02:02 PM

i want to see more movies with finning in it, pref action and horror ones. and then she can get killed in the first couple of minutes.

i would pay to see that! my god she is annoying, she is like an evil version of tom cruise his own mini-me.

maybe they could do (since hollywood is remaking old movies or giving them sequels) a sequel to E.T. with dakota as a new drew who discovers this tiny little alien left behind on this cold earth. she then starts to comunicate with it and discusses all the problems of life. and then E.T. cann't take it annymore and does an overdose on pills and thtows himself of a bridge and dies.

hmmmm, lets just say i don't like the little creepfest fanning.

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Zen Bullet writes:
on Feb 09 2007 04:16 PM

I'll see a film because Fanning is in it . . . as I would if Tom Hanks or Will Smith was starring. There aren't many actors I can say that about.

When her career began, she was impressive for her acting talents. She's so open with her emotions, very unguarded . . . and that's a trait that she has developed into an impressive skill set. Unlike most child actors(and many adult ones), she doesn't have to "perform" the characters, she inhabits them. And she is so natural, without having to "become" an adult in order to accomplish the task.

Also, unlike many, she'll remain a convincing actress regardless of her age . . . and she should mature gracefully, without too much adverse impact on her career during her teens.

And I agree, her agent has got to be a genius. Dakota has one of the more impressive career resumes out there right now.

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medicineman writes:
on Feb 09 2007 05:16 PM

I think she's an incredible and intelligent little actress who will have a very long and more successful career than even Jodie Foster or Drew Barrymore. The only question remains to be answered is how old will she be when she wins her first Academy award.

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southfrisco writes:
on Feb 09 2007 08:46 PM

Talk about overkill. Doesn't this kid get any time to actually be a kid? I see problems ahead.

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CannibalPenguins writes:
on Feb 09 2007 09:37 PM

I don't like her...
I've been hoping since War Of The Worlds that this girl gets fat and gets a face full of acne and stops acting

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mojodaddy writes:
on Feb 10 2007 07:18 AM

I think she should be put in every role there ever is for a girl from now on.

Just kidding but she's a good actress. How are they going to be disabled?

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Psyfoob writes:
on Feb 10 2007 08:28 AM

People say things and criticize Dakota Fanning, but I've always liked her as an actress. She knows how to throw her emotions around conincingly, and that's something hard even for most adult actors. Just watch the scene in 'War of the Worlds' when the Tripods rip through the city while they escape in their van, and you'll see one of the most convincing crying/panic scenes ever. Those tears and the voice; it's real. I always look forward to her films, and I think she's still the most promising young actor out right now. (Though in 2006 I saw other promising child actors like Ivana Baquero (Pan's Labyrinth), Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine), Keke Palmer (Akeelah and the Bee), and even young Jayden Christopher Syre Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness).

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Foxtalker writes:
on Feb 10 2007 12:19 PM

In reply to this comment (#855408)
How they gonna be disabled? Easy!

I wait behind some bushes wish a tire iron and wait for the whole family to walk by. I whack Dakota for being so creepy, her mom for letting her daughter be so creepy, and her sister just so she can get into character. I think they call this "method acting."

PS Totally kidding. She's wonderful little Hollywood product. By the way, where the hell is her dad? Are we sure she's not a test tube baby made from some Tinseltown paid genectsist? Geneticsist? Gene...gene....scientist?

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bigbrother writes:
on Feb 10 2007 12:58 PM

In reply to this comment (#855409)
I don't critisize Dakota Fanning, I think she's an amazing actress especially considering she's so young, but I do wonder about her parents. Like the previous poster said with her being in 70 movies by the time she's 12 plus awards shows and Premieres when does she have the chance to be a kid? and now they have her sister in it too? I seriously hope we don't have to see her grow up to become another damaged child star. Seriously it's not like they have to capitalize on the cute. She's got real talent. Give her 4 or 5 years then start to exploit her.

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Ashron writes:
on Feb 11 2007 11:51 AM

Well, having worked with people who've worked with her, I don't think you have to fear that she'll go the whole Macaulay Culkin route. She's very together, her parents are very together, and she thoroughly seems to enjoy what she's doing. She has plenty of time to be a kid on the set in between takes. After all, it's not the lack of "kid-like" activities that make a child star a neurotic wreck, it's the constant kowtowing and yes men that surround them. When that disappears, the kids don't know how to handle it. But from what I've heard, Dakota doesn't play that, so I think she'll come out fine.

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