Rising Stars: Elle Fanning

Today is the 14th birthday of Elle Fanning, one of the most promising young actresses in Hollywood. It's hard for me to believe she is just 14 - perhaps because she is so tall (5' 7" (1.70 m)) or perhaps because she was starring in films for such a long time now. She began her career by playing younger versions of her sister Dakota's characters in "I am Sam" and "Taken". Then she started appearing in other films such as "Babel", "Deja Vu" and "Reservation Road". She played young Daisy in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and two major roles in "Phoebe in Wonderland" and opposite Stephen Doriff in Sophia Coppola's "Somewhere" - that role brought her "Actress of the year" award at Young Hollywood Awards. But the real fame came in 2011 with her magnetic and wonderful performance in "Super 8". For that role she won Spotlight Award at Hollywood Film festival and was nominated for Saturn and Empire Awards. And while I adore Elle's sister Dakota and I consider her work to be very good, none of her performances captivated and impressed me quiet as much as Elle's work in "Super 8".  In 2011 she also appeared in "Twixt" a movie by Francis Ford Coppola nobody seems to have seen and Cameron Crowe's "We Bought a Zoo".

Elle was only three and a half years old when she attended her first Hollywood premiere so the movies, the spotlight and the attention are not a new thing to her. She is very devoted to her sister and she says she is her favorite actress, along with Meryl Streep and Jodie Foster. She really can't do wrong with influences like that.

She also loves Marilyn Monroe. In the interview for Interview magazine she said: "I love her look and everything. But I've seen The Seven Year Itch and I loved that. I watched that all the time when I was little. I liked the dress. I was her for Halloween when I was 7. I did the makeup and the mole and I did all the poses with blowing kisses and all that. But also, of course, I'd love to do something with my sister. I've never really acted with her before. I've played her at a younger age, but we've never been in the same scenes together."

Elle's upcoming films include "A Pure Life" where she will be staring opposite Vera Farmiga, "Bomb" set in the 60's in London (incidentally, Fanning loves 60's inspired fashion), "Vivaldi" where she will play one of his young students and the biggest production of them all - "Maleficent" where she will play Sleeping Beauty - Aurora, who is hated by the Evil Queen played by Angelina Jolie.

What I love the most about Elle Fanning is her uncanny ability to play a strong and magnetic characters, without losing her inner subtlety. She is never annoying, phony or unconvincing in her performances, unlike many other teenage actresses. And she already worked for many famous and well respected directors - Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Francis Ford Coppola and David Fincher. With a start like that , I really can't wait to see what performances she will be giving in the future. I'm certain of one thing - they will be extraordinary.

"I am Sam"

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

"Somewhere"

"Super 8"

"Twixt"

"We Bought a Zoo"