Crush: Hollywood's Next Generation

• Dakota Fanning: 'I Enjoy Having a Normal Life'

  posted by Rebecca - Tue Nov 10 2009, 10:17 AM PST

  celebs: Dakota Fanning
  topics: BFFs

  Dakota Fanning strikes a pose on the cover of Teen Vogue. Norman Jean Roy/Teen Vogue Although Dakota Fanning might seem like a regular 15-year-old girl -- she's a member of her high school cheerleading squad and was recently crowned homecoming princess -- don't let her fool you. This week, she's gracing the cover of Teen Vogue's December issue thanks to her upcoming role in "New Moon" as Jane, a Volturi vampire who has the ability to cause pain without even touching her victims!
  
  So how did the young actress, who's been working in the biz since she was 5, prepare for the evil role?

  See Dakota's Teen Vogue Photo Shoot

  "I wasn't in my mirror like Zoolander, doing Blue Steel!" she laughs. "The red contacts were enough. I read all four Twilight books in one week. It's such a phenomenon and I wanted to be able to be a part of that."

  Dakota is no longer the precocious little girl we once knew. Norman Jean Roy/Teen Vogue

  Making the flick also gave Dakota the opportunity to get to know Kristen Stewart before they began working on "The Runaways," a biopic about Joan Jett's all-girl teenage rock band in the 1970s.
  
  "We became really close," says Fanning, "like we'd known each other for our whole lives. We talk all the time."
  
  This actually made filming certain "New Moon" scenes difficult for Dakota. "Being mean to [Kristen] was really weird," she notes. It's like, 'Sorry dude!'"
  
  On the plus side, their friendship made playing punk rockers Cherie Currie (Fanning) and Joan Jett (Stewart) in "The Runaways" a snap.

  Video: Behind the Scenes With Dakota Fanning

  "The relationship that Joan and Cherie have in the script is kind of the one that Kristen and I have in real life ... minus the destructive part," says Fanning.

  Norman Jean Roy/Teen Vogue

  Yes, if you didn't already know, "The Runaways" is about sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. Fortunately, Dakota's not worried about what some of her critics might say, and is smart enough to realize that making the transition from a child star to an adult actress is not easy.

  "I'm going to get older," says the teen. "And I want to act for the rest of my life -- it's what I love -- so I have to move forward with my career. The choices that I make might not always please everyone, but I have to do what I feel is appropriate and right for the time."

  Check Out Dakota's Fashion Timeline

  And who are we to judge anyway? So far, Dakota has made a lot of good choices in her life, which explains why she's stayed out of trouble, unlike some other young Hollywood stars.

  "I get my rebellion out through my movies," she shares. "I'm boring in that way. I enjoy having a normal life."
  
  To read more with Dakota Fanning, pick up the December/January 2010 issue of Teen Vogue, on newsstands November 17.

  The 15-year-old actress has been attending the same school since 9th grade. "I really wanted a home base, because I feel like no matter how old people are, they remember homecoming. They remember their senior prom. And I really wanted that." Norman Jean Roy/Teen Vogue

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