At 21 years old, actress Elle Fanning has an impressive list of credits under her belt. Appearing on the silver screen at just three years old, she most recently stole our hearts as Princess Aurora in Disney sequel, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, a character she first portrayed at 16.
Outside of the cinema, the Hollywood princess have also had an affinity for fashion and beauty—specifically with Italian fashion house Miu Miu, for which Elle made her runway debut at Paris Fashion Week last year. Now, the long-time friend of Miu Miu is also the face of the house’s latest fragrance, the Miu Miu Twist. The campaign, released earlier this year, saw Elle hopping from one set to another, being her quirky self as she amuses herself with puns related to Miu Miu.
We catch up with the starlet to talk about being a muse, her relationship with sister Dakota Fanning, and the best advice that Angelina Jolie has given her.
How does it feel to be the face of Miu Miu Twist and what do you enjoy most about it?
Elle Fanning (EF) I did my first fashion campaign with Miu Miu when I was 14 years old. Now I’m 21, and I am so happy that I get to be a part of it still. Growing up with the brand and knowing everyone, I feel like Miu Miu is a big family to me. It was also the first fashion house that I could relate to from an early age. It is girly and feminine, but also has this offbeat quirkiness to it.
Mrs Prada is someone who loves movies a lot, so as an actress I always feel like we’re creating a character with each campaign we did, especially with the perfume campaigns.
Who is the Miu Miu girl and what qualities do you share?
EF I think she’s very feminine and elegant but also has an edge to her, so it’s not just all sweet—there is a little twist you could say. [laughs] I think I share that quality because I’m someone who is super girly. There is also a real strength to the Miu Miu girl that is very modern and effortless.
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Elle and Dakota Fanning will play onscreen sisters in TriStar Pictures’ adaptation of Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale.
The best-selling novel tells the story of two sisters coming of age in France on the eve of World War II and their struggle to survive and resist the German occupation of France. It was inspired by the courageous women of the French Resistance who helped downed Allied airmen escape Nazi-occupied territory and hid Jewish children.
Melanie Laurent, who worked with Elle Fanning on the drama Galveston, will direct from a script by Dana Stevens. Elizabeth Cantillon is producing through her Cantillon Company banner.
“The Nightingale will be the first time we act on screen together. We have played the same character at different ages but have never spoken to each other in front of a camera. For years, we have looked for a film to do with one another and then this gem appeared,” the Fannings said Wednesday in a joint statement. “As sisters, to share our artistry with each other while bringing such a powerful sister story to life is a dream come true. We are so lucky to have our fearless director, Melanie Laurent, to guide us along on the journey. Let’s do this, sister!!”
Elle Fanning was last in theaters in Disney’s Maleficent sequel, Mistress of Evil, and will next be seen in the Netflix movie All the Bright Places. She is set to star as Catherine the Great in the Hulu miniseries The Great.
Dakota Fanning most recently appeared in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and will next be seen in the TNT series Angel of Darkness.
The sisters are repped by WME, Echo Lake and Hanson Jacobson. Laurent is repped by WME and France’s UBBA. [Source]
Elle Fanning’s style shines both onscreen and off. Who else could wear couture to the mall?
I’m walking behind Elle Fanning into L.A.’s Chateau Marmont — not in a creepy way — and the first thing I notice is how perfectly, well, Elle Fanning she is. She’s wearing a cute plaid pastel minidress and chunky Gucci slides, and her hair is up in a topknot. All of it is polished off by a pair of swinging vintage daisy earrings. She’s also 10 minutes early. What’s so winning about Fanning — apart from daisies and punctuality — is the openness she radiates wherever she goes. An uncynical desire to try things, to perform, to fling herself out into the world. And, of course, her exuberant embrace of fashion is why she’s on the cover of this Best Dressed issue. Fanning has worn princess ball gowns (which she will also sport in Maleficent Mistress of Evil, out this month), sparkly Rodarte, artsy-girl Miu Miu, and the crowning glory that was a reinvigorated Dior New Look at the Cannes Film Festival in May.
On Fanning, though, every look is new.
LAURA BROWN: Everything you do, Elle, you embrace. I remember when you came to the InStyle Awards [in 2017] wearing a full-on Versace dress and giggling like you were 6.
ELLE FANNING: [Laughing] Oh my god, I hated the faux bangs I wore that night so much. But, hey, it was a costume. It was a Warhol print with Marilyn Monroe, and I love her, so, obviously, I wore that dress.
LB: It seems like that “I’m going to experience this” feeling governs you.
EF: Yes, I was always curious and mischievous. Like when I watched Friends, I loved Phoebe. I loved that she was gawky. I had a real awkward phase. I grew 12 inches in a year. I didn’t want to be like everyone else in school. There was a certain confidence that I had, that I was like, “I want you to make fun of me because that makes me feel cool.”
LB: Ah, the old “Awkward and gawky, now I’m a goddess.”
EF: Exactly! There is, like, a fairy-tale aspect to that, so that was always kind of in me. And I was already doing films and stuff.
LB: Did you go to a school that had a lot of performers?
EF: I went to Campbell Hall, which is in the [San Fernando] Valley. But I was home-schooled until the third grade. And then my mom kind of realized, “OK, you need to be around other kids.” [laughs] I went in fourth grade, and I was there until senior year. I went to all of my proms.
LB: What did you wear to your proms?
EF: The first prom was in ninth grade. I wore a white Ralph Lauren dress that we found at the mall. It was long and flowy with a V-neck tank. For the second prom I went to the Paper Bag Princess [in L.A.] and got a vintage bias-cut pink John Galliano dress.
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She was just 14 when she was cast as Sleeping Beauty in the first Maleficent.
Now Elle Fanning is 21 and promoting its sequel—and showcasing a very grown-up version of theme-dressing on the red carpet, busting out a custom Gucci ensemble at the LA premiere, complete with a bloodied finger prick (in sequins, naturally).
She’s also the smiling face emblazoned across ELLE Australia’s November 2019, clad in a coral-pink Fendi dress and beaming with the kind of effervescent energy she’s become known for.
She’s renowned for her red-carpet outfits, glowing as a 1970s Barbie for the camp-themed Met Gala in May, sporting a peach Miu Miu coord, elaborate nail art and a waterfalling high pony.
She was crowned (by us) best-dressed at this year’s Cannes Film Festival thanks to her array of glamorous gowns, from ethereal white Reem Acra to shocking pink Vivienne Westwood, but it was a vintage-esque Dior outfit that was her favourite.
“At Cannes, you can go big and that’s what I wanted. I wanted to do separates, and I asked Dior if they would be into a ball skirt and shirt situation, and it morphed into the New Look. We added the hat very last-minute. It was exciting because I’m very nostalgic of the ’50s and ’60s. Old Hollywood glamour is so classic, I wish it would come back.”
It’s the red carpet where she feels most at home, she reveals.
“I dressed really crazy at school. So obviously people weren’t necessarily going to be like, ‘You’re so cool.’ The red carpet was like a home for me—from a young age, the fashion community embraced me. The red carpet felt safe. I don’t feel judged on it—I feel free to express that side of myself. It’s such a creative outlet, something I could really take control of.”
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Five years after first meeting, Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning strengthened their bond on the sequel to 2014’s hit movie Maleficent.
The two reunite for Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, out Friday, with Fanning’s Aurora all grown up and facing different problems than she did as a younger child in the 2014 original. And just like the movie, Fanning, 21, says her relationship with Jolie, 44, changed now that she’s in her twenties.
“I’m older, and the things we can talk about now are different,” Fanning tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue, on stands Friday. “I feel like I can ask her anything—and I have!”
“Watching her is so inspiring,” Fanning adds. “As a person, she has a such a strength in her convictions. She really stands up for what she feels is right and will protect you at all costs. I’ve truly seen that — her nurturing and protective instincts. It’s so beautiful.”
The feeling is mutual, with Jolie opening up to PEOPLE about the special place Fanning has carved in her life.
“The first moment she ever saw me, she was 14 and she ran up and gave me the biggest hug. Elle was the sweetest. Nothing about me intimidated her,” Jolie recalls of their first meeting. “I’ll always feel close to Elle. She knows I’m goofy. I know she has great strength.”
The duo also bonded off-set with Jolie’s six kids — Maddox, 18, Pax, 15, Zahara, 14, Shiloh, 13, and 11-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne — who came along while their mom shot the film in London. And their offscreen activities could get a little intense, including a paintball outing where Jolie was much better than Fanning.
“Probably not Disney-approved, because we could have gotten injured!” Fanning jokes. “We had welts on our legs. I’d never gone paintballing before. Angelina does it a lot. She was good. I was trying. I hit her security guard in the neck. And he was on my team!” [Source]
