FANNING. Shares strong bond with her sister, Dakota. RUBEN V. NEPALES
LOS ANGELES—“Angelina (Jolie) would be walking around the set, and twins Vivienne and Knox would be on each of her hips, just hanging out,” Elle Fanning, who portrays Princess Aurora in “Maleficent,” said as she shared some of her best memories of being on the set with the actress.
Elle vividly remembered the first time she met Angelina. “I was so nervous. I didn’t know I was going to meet her that day. Then, there she was!
“We immediately gave each other a giant hug. She’s a hugger, so she just went into it. She said, ‘We are going to have so much fun working together.’ She shook my shoulders. It was pure fun.”
Elle said that while she wasn’t on the set when Angelina and her daughter, Vivienne, shot their short scene together, she got to see the Jolie-Pitt children often on the set. Like Vivienne, who plays the young Princess Aurora, Elle started very young—she made her film debut at the age of 2 in Jessie Nelson’s “I Am Sam.”
On what Elle has learned from Angelina, she replied, “She is extremely professional. I admire the way she handles herself, that posture and attention to detail. This movie is important to her because she loved the character when she was growing up. She wanted to have the costumes and makeup right because this is the first time that her story is told in live action.”
Elle has taken steps to follow Angelina in another field she admires her in—humanitarian endeavors. “She is truly inspiring,” the young actress stressed. “I am an ambassador to the UN’s Ending Hunger campaign. I did a little voice-over for them in a campaign.”
On other people who inspire her, she answered, “The Coppola family has inspired me. I’m close to Sofia Coppola (Elle’s director in ‘Somewhere’). We have such an amazing friendship. I did a movie (‘Twixt’) with Francis (Ford Coppola) and we had the most amazing time.”
Things are looking up for Elle, whose credits include her acclaimed performance in “Ginger & Rosa.” “I used to get mistaken for my sister all the time,” she said. “They would say, ‘Are you Dakota Fanning?’ Now, whenever people come to me, they say, ‘Are you Elle?’ So, it’s cool. The other day, a little girl came up to me and asked if I was Aurora. I was like, ‘Wow!’ Yes!’
“But, Dakota and I share a lot of traits,” she added. “We have a strong bond. We even think alike. We never really talk about acting. We’re very independent on the choices we make.” She’s looking forward to Dakota coming home to LA on her summer break from college studies.
In between her studies and shoots, Elle, whose other films this year include “Low Down” and “The Boxtrolls,” takes dance lessons. “Maybe one day I will do it (dance) in a movie. That would be cool.”
On the quest for true love, the theme in “Maleficent,” Elle said, “I’m surrounded by true love. My parents have known each other since they were 7 years old—and they’re still together. That, to me, is the ultimate love story.”
As for herself, Elle said with a smile, “You have crushes in school. My mom said, ‘When you meet the one, you will know.’ Well, that hasn’t happened yet.”