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The Perfect Couple star has been candid about her desire to be a mother
“I wouldn’t say I’m not a happy person, but I do think the late twenties fuck with you,” continues Fanning. “I feel happier and more conscious of what I have, rather than what I don’t have. I know who I am, and the people who know me know who I am, and that’s really all that matters. But there is something about saying that at 30 that feels different to saying it at 28.”
“I’m trying to PUSH myself to keep saying yes to things that make me uncomfortable, to keep GOING to places for long periods of time that MAYBE I’m scared to do”
“I like being alone and I don’t mind getting acclimated to a place, but I felt really lonely in a specific way,” she recalls. “I felt like I was trapped. I’m sure other people can relate… It wasn’t a unique experience, but I definitely went through a rollercoaster on this.”
Having seen the results – the finished eight-part, black-and-white series – she has no regrets now. “I feel very rewarded and satisfied having seen the show; it all feels worth it,” she smiles. “It’s so different to anything I’ve ever been in.”
Another exciting project on the horizon is mystery drama The Perfect Couple, which also stars Nicole Kidman, Meghann Fahy and Bad Sisters actor Eve Hewson, who she calls one of her “dearest friends”. She loved getting to collaborate creatively with someone in her inner circle, and it isn’t her only experience of doing so. Fanning set up production company Lewellen Pictures with her sister and fellow actor Elle during the pandemic – and the pair are keen to branch out in their industry.
“It’s been fun to move into podcasts [the investigative One Click, which Elle narrates] and documentaries, to focus on growing a diverse portfolio of projects as much as growing our acting careers,” she says. The company executive-produced the satirical historical drama The Great and 2022 crime drama The Girl From Plainville, both of which Elle starred in, and it is said to be producing a TV adaptation of Paris Hilton’s memoir.
“Being an actor is a huge part of my identity. I don’t really know who I would be without it. But I also have a desire to set up my life and career so that I always have a choice,” she says. “Having kids is probably more important to me than anything, even being an actor. If somebody said I had to choose, I would choose having kids. I’m one of those people who has always felt that pull.”
Dakota Fanning is back on our screens in the Netflix hit The Perfect Couple alongside Nicole Kidman and Liev Schreiber.
As Abby Winbury, the actress, 30, plays a pregnant woman and though The Watchers star isn’t a mother herself, she has previously opened up about her desire to have children.
Dakota Fanning as pregnant Abby Winbury in The Perfect Couple
In an interview with Porter, The Equalizer 3 actress spoke about where motherhood sits as a priority in her life as a successful actress who has also appeared in Ripley this year.
Dakota plays a mom-to-be in The Perfect Couple
“Being an actor is a huge part of my identity. I don’t really know who I would be without it. But I also have a desire to set up my life and career so that I always have a choice,” Dakota admitted.
Dakota opened up to Porter about motherhood
“Having kids is probably more important to me than anything, even being an actor. If somebody said I had to choose, I would choose having kids. I’m one of those people who has always felt that pull.”
Dakota’s Family Life
The star, who rose to fame as a child in movies like The Cat in the Hat and Charlotte’s Web, did however emphasise that she hasn’t got a set timeline in mind when it comes to pursuing motherhood.
“I don’t know how I’ll feel when that time in my life comes – and how much I’ll want to work. But, because I don’t have that at the moment, I’m trying to take advantage of the adventures now,” she explained.
For now, Dakota is focusing on new “adventures” in her career and ploughs her maternal energy into being a doting big sister to fellow actress Elle Fanning.
Dakota and Elle Fanning have a close bond
It seems the Coraline voice actress is constantly looking to the future. “Anyone who knows Dakota knows she has dreamt of turning 30 since she was a teenager,” her sister and Maleficent star Elle penned on Dakota’s birthday earlier this year.
“February 23, 1994 the world got brighter and more beautiful. I could sit and listen to you talk for hours, in fact that is my favourite place to be… absorbing your advice, your fascinating view of the world (things you ARE and AREN’T ‘iinterested’ in) I have always felt safest with you by my side.”
Dakota also has a positive role model in the form of her own mother. In 2022, the star took to Instagram to mark Mother’s Day with an adorable childhood photo where she is sat cuddled up with a young Heather Fanning on the couch at home in Georgia.
“When my grandfather, my mom’s dad, passed away, his best friend said of him, ‘If he had something and you needed it, it was yours’. He passed that trait on to my mom in spades,” she wrote. “She is the most generous person I know, and I am so lucky that she is my mom. I love you Mama!”.
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