FASHION & STYLE: DAKOTA FANNING GROWS UP FOR VS. MAGAZINE
Dakota Fanning wants to remind the world that Brittany Murphy is no longer her babysitter, Sean Penn is no longer her father and she is no longer a precocious child prodigy grinning on the red carpet. In a stylish new spread for Vs. Magazine, the 20-year-old actress not only indulges her sultry side, she makes a strong pledge to pursue empowering roles throughout her career.
“As you get older, you see how many fewer roles there are for women, and how the diversity of the roles for women is so…well, not diverse,” says Fanning in the Spring/Summer 2015 issue, “So I’ve shifted to really focusing on playing very strong women, who are complex, and who have more to their story that just being someone’s girlfriend. I want to hold out for those roles.”
In a dramatic, retro-inspired editorial motel room setting, photographer Vincent Peters shows the world a steady, elegant and reflective Fanning whose characteristic wide eyes get the smokey treatment. Taking pensive Polaroid selfies and clutching vinyls by cool, independent female artists, like Rickie Lee Jones, she is not following the usual sex kitten route that is so often taken by actresses trying to shed a child-star image. Men are rarely shown in frame, placing all the attention on Fanning and her aura of wise, fearless femininity.
Here’s hoping for a sequel to Man on Fire with “woman” in the title.
Images via Vincent Peters/Vs. Magazine