Dakota Fanning reveals the 'super-inappropriate questions' she was asked as a child star

Dakota Fanning has candidly opened up about the less glamorous side of finding fame at a young age.

In conversation with The Cut, the former child star, 30, reflected on the times she was interviewed after her television debut in 2000 when she was just six. 

“I remember journalists asking me, ‘How are you avoiding becoming a tabloid girl?’ People would ask super-inappropriate questions,” she said. 

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“I was in an interview as a child and somebody asked, ‘How could you possibly have any friends?’ It’s like, huh?

“I have a lot of compassion for people who have been made into examples. If society and the media hadn’t played their part, who knows?”

Discussing the damaging effects child fame can have, Fanning added: “I don’t think that it’s necessarily connected a hundred per cent to being in this business; there are other factors, too. 

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“I just didn’t fall into it, and I don’t know the exact reasons except that my family is comprised of very nice, kind, protective people.”

Fanning then discussed how her family protected her while she was growing up in the industry.

“I have a mother who taught me how to treat other people and also how to treat myself. And she was there every second. I was always treated with respect,” she said.

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“It was never ‘Bring the kid in! Get her out!’ I wasn’t working with people who treated me that way — I was being respected as an actor and as equal as you can be for that age.

“Looking back on my life, my career is such a present part of it, but I really think about the childhood memories, too. 

Fanning added: “My life doesn’t feel disproportionate with work, and I’m so grateful for that. I’m there doing work that matters.”

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