Dakota Fanning is a rare breed -- a child actor who hasn't let success mess with her brain.
At 16, she's poised, collected and headed for a grown-up career as we see in her new movie, The Runaways. The Georgia native plays Cherie Currie, the lead singer of the 1970s band that launched Joan Jett's Blackhearts career.
Though she's gone head to head with screen legends like Robert De Niro (Hide and Seek), Denzel Washington (Man on Fire) and Tom Cruise (War of the Worlds), playing the rocker was her most challenging role.
``It was different, because you are living someone else's life,'' Fanning says by phone from L.A. ``I definitely did more preparation than usual. The person you are playing is right there. I had to sing like her too . . . a great responsibility.''
Fanning started out in showbiz earlier than Currie -- at the age of 7 in I Am Sam, playing Sean Penn's daughter.
Can she relate?
``I can relate to having a job when you're younger, but not being on my own or the drug use,'' she says. ``Cherie was just a 15-year-old girl from the Valley thrown into this crazy world of rock 'n' roll away from her family and very vulnerable, having to figure everything out for herself.''
Fanning's family is on the case.
``My mother's always been there, I've gone to school on set. She makes sure I only work certain hours.''
Also keeping her head on straight is friend Kristen Stewart, who plays Jett and is Fanning's costar in two Twilight films, New Moon and Eclipse. The girls are close -- which made sharing a same-sex kiss in Runaways a little easier.
``She's one of my best friends -- I couldn't have asked for a better person to go through this with.''
Like Kristen, Dakota has literally grown up in front of our eyes. It's an odd feeling.
``[It's] like seeing a different element of yourself all documented so clearly,'' she says of seeing her old movies. ``I definitely look forward to showing my children my younger self when I'm a 60-year-old!''
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Subject: Dakota Fanning: She's a little `Runaway' 
Tue Apr 13, 2010 9:46 am