Elle Fanning is honoring her The Beguiled co-star Kirsten Dunst by acknowledging her exceptional talent and contributions to the entertainment industry over the years.
For context, Dunst, who was a child star, made her acting debut at the age of six when she scored a minor role in Woody Allen’s 1989 film New York Stories. Since then, the now 41-year-old would star in about 87 projects, including music videos, television shows, and movies. Dunst’s recent role as Rose Gordon in The Power of the Dog landed her an Academy Award for best supporting actress.Â
In an interview with People magazine at the Cannes Film Festival this week, Fanning opened up about why she considers Dunst one of her biggest inspirations. The Great star shared that she admires Dunst because of the actress’ ability to maintain longevity after 30-plus years in the industry. Fanning said,
“I mean, I’m really lucky. I have a lot. Kirsten Dunst is someone that I also love. And I think her navigating the child actor into who she’s become now and maintaining that longevity, is something that I think about a lot.Because when you’ve been around for a while, you also want to keep surprising yourself and keep surprising others.”
The 25-year-old would add another quality she loves about Dunst is that throughout her career, she has remained genre-less and has made “interesting choices” when selecting her roles.
“And I think that’s something that she’s done. Also, she’s kind of genre-less. She’s so incredibly funny but in such dramatic roles. She’s always makes kind of interesting choices. And I’ve always looked up to her too.”
Further in the discussion, Fanning revealed that Nicole Kidman was her “ultimate role model,” and she considers Angelina Jolie and Ben Affleck “influential” in terms of her career.
The star would go on to explain that one thing she respects about Affleck, whom she played alongside in 2016’s Live By Night, is his range as an actor, writer, and director. While mentioning Affleck’s directorial work in the movie, Fanning stated,
“Well, I got to act with him and [watch him] be a director, which was so interesting because I hope to direct one day. I might, I don’t know if I would put myself in the project because it seems so overwhelming to do that.”
Fanning wrapped up the statement by raving about Affleck’s writing abilities.
“He does it with ease. He is an incredible writer. That script was so great, but it was so neat to see him. We would have a scene together and then he would just say, he would have to say cut.It was so, wow. The balancing act of having to compartmentalize your brain like that. That’s what the big takeaway that I had from that project.”
The 2023 Cannes Film Festival is scheduled to end next week, on May 26.
