I also think it’s important that, in the roles you play in movies, you aren’t always morally good. There’s a time and a place for a feel good movie, of course — we want to feel good, and sometimes in dark times in the world, we need to bring light, and we need to just to sit in a theater and have the feel-good popcorn movie. But it’s also really important to show the raw and the kind of underbelly of it all. So I’m not afraid of that. The darker, the better. Watching really difficult subject matter — it helps you heal, in a way.
And then there’s cancel culture, which was so big for so long. As an actor, I’m more interested in the human experience, and all facets of life — it doesn’t matter if I agree with my character. I leave my opinions at the door, because I’m playing someone else. That’s very important to keep separate. Especially with social media and being a public figure online; the lines can get blurry. There is such a darkness there, on social media. I find myself getting sucked in sometimes. It’s hard not to.
TV: What’s it like to be in the same industry as your older sister? Is it helpful or hurtful?
Fanning: When we were young, we used to fight so much, just over normal sibling stuff. But now, getting to work together, and ask her for advice… She’s like my favorite person. I wouldn’t be able to go on without her. Having a sister, a sibling, someone who understands your life experiences — it’s the most important thing. It goes so much deeper than just acting. I want her to succeed more than myself. She feels the same way; it’s vice versa. I’m her number one cheerleader.
With her, there’s a safety in me knowing that when I’m on a film set, she knows what I’m going through, and I can call her up and complain about this, or talk about that. It’s such a short hand. I think it’s needed, in this crazy industry, to just have that person that grounds you, and just gets it. So we are our shoulders. We lean on each other, through the highs and the lows of it all.
TV: So you have these two great and unique acting talents — you and Dakota — in your family. Although, of course, you often have prolific acting families, it’s so rare to have what your family has. What about your childhood do you think made that happen?
Fanning: I think it’s really our mom just cultivating our empathy, and cultivating our love of the human experience, and of being around people and being interested in people — because acting is a lot of observing and having to be open to people and their beliefs. That is something that I think was inside of us. The stifling of the freedom of expression can be so harmful. So I was lucky in that sense — I was allowed to be myself.
TV: You grew up in Georgia but moved to L.A. when Dakota’s acting career took off. Did you ever feel uprooted?
Fanning: I was so young. I don’t even remember Georgia that much. LA is my home. But my whole life, I was kind of always uprooted, because I was traveling so much. It was the living-out-of-the-suitcase life. I still feel that way. So I think, in the next couple of years, I want a base. I really want a home that’s mine. The amount of times I’ve spent in a hotel room ordering Postmates, or Foodora, in Norway — I know all of the food services from around the world. I love ordering food, but I’m putting that in the past. That’s one of my New Year’s resolutions. There always will be travel, but I need to have a place to go back to, someplace that’s my own place.
TV: So kind of pivoting a little bit, who are your favorite actors and actresses?
Fanning: I love Katherine Hepburn. Amy Adams is also one of my absolute favorites. And I love Tom Cruise; he’s such a movie star. I love Magnolia. It’s a Paul Thomas Anderson movie, who is a director that I really want to work with. I think he’s never made a bad movie; it’s unbelievable.
