Dakota Fanning Talks About Growing Up

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At 14, actress Dakota Fanning is outgrowing the precocious little-kid roles that made her famous, but she tells OK! that one part of being an adult she isn’t rushing into is getting her driver's license anytime soon.

“I’m the youngest in my grade at school so I don’t get my permit until August next year," Dakota revealed to OK! at the NYC premiere of her film Hounddog. "I do look forward to driving, but I like when my mom drives me around. I love that time with my mom.”

Another part of becoming a young woman is obviously young men, and while the War of the Worlds star says her parents “aren’t too strict” and let her date, the high school boys will have to compete with Dakota’s celeb crush, Orlando Bloom.

“I have this embarrassing moment when I won this award and he presented it to me and I was too short to reach the podium,” Dakota told OK!. “I was like seven at the time and he had to hold me up. So I was like, oh my god, so embarrassing.”

Dakota, who’s appeared in movies alongside Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tom Cruise, Charlize Theron and Denzel Washington, has more on-set experience than many of her adult co-stars and was happy to assist her young Hounddog co-stars.

“She helped with everything,” says Cody Hanford, who plays Dakota’s best friend in Hounddog. “She was a great a friend on set. She told me first, to keep my country accent and just to relax and talk like you are normally talking to a friend.”

Hounddog writer and director Deborah Kampmeier said Dakota was one of  the easiest actors to direct. “It was extraordinary,” she told OK!. “She was a constant professional and offered that professionalism to everyone.”

Hounddog is now playing in select theaters nationwide.

By Laura Lane