Elle Fanning is absolutely charming. Remember, Angelina Jolie said that when she first met Elle, Elle ran up to her and jumped on her and “it was like being attacked by a thousand cute, gorgeous bunnies.” That’s what the Maleficent promotional tour is going to be like, so just prepare yourself. Elle covers the new issue of Interview Magazine and I LOVE the cover. The cover is amaze-balls. The rest of the shoot is a little bit creepy though – Elle only turned 16 years in April, and there’s definitely a Lolita vibe in the pictorial. As for the interview, it was conducted by Scarlett Johansson. If you want to groan at how much ScarJo brings up her stuff, go here to read the full piece. Some highlights:
Elle’s education: “I was homeschooled up until third grade, and I liked it because my grandma taught me, and I loved being with my grandma. But then I didn’t really have any friends, none my own age. So my mom put me in school in fourth grade. It’s cool because I’ve realized things about myself that I wouldn’t have if I weren’t in school. My favorite subject is science, which is so weird because I would think that my favorite subject would be, I don’t know, something more artistic. I only have two more years left now because I’m a sophomore. But I’m also excited to get out of school.”
Her favorite food: “My favorite food is Cobb salad. I love the Baskin-Robbins World Class Chocolate milkshake, but you have to tell them to add extra chocolate syrup in it.”
Playing Sleeping Beauty, doing lots of CGI: “It was a little bit overwhelming in the beginning, but the nice thing was that my character, Sleeping Beauty, is human. She’s not, like, half-fairy. She’s just a person. So my stuff wasn’t as visual-effects heavy. And everyone was so specialized—they were the top people in their fields—so I was like, “Oh, they know what they’re doing, so I can just do my job.” And Angelina [Jolie] was there, which was really cool.”
Meeting Angelina: “I was very nervous to meet her. It was the same thing with you. When you hear “Angelina Jolie” and you haven’t met the person, that’s just a name. “Scarlett Johansson”—that was just a name, and then I met you and you became a real person. When I met her, she became, like, flesh—someone who wasn’t just a big celebrity. And you feel like, “Oh, I can actually just talk to her about regular things.” Like school, everyday things.”
Cobb salad is okay, but I prefer it without the eggs and the cheese. And extra bacon if they have it. But the chocolate shake? Damn, now I’m craving a really creamy chocolate shake.
ScarJo and Elle also talk about the struggle of child actors who don’t know if they should pursue a university education or keep working/transitioning into adulthood. Scarlett actually seemed really nice about it, telling Elle that she deferred a year at NYU but ended up not going because she was working back-to-back. Elle sounds like she probably won’t do college but she also talks a lot about how she loves ballet and would love to do it full time.
Elle also had a recent interview with Yahoo and she was fan-girling Angelina really hard in that piece – you can read it here.
Photos courtesy of CRAIG MCDEAN/Interview.
Yep, a bit lolitaesque (that one in a bikini top is a bit creepy) .. but again, she is such a pretty girl! I really like her, and now everytime I look at her I think about what Angelina said…LOL. so cute!
There have been worse shoots with young actresses but it is a bit creepy. I can’t put my finger on it though … which makes it worse imo. It’s always short shorts and a half open mouth, isn’t it?
Lolita-esque is when they pair the clean, freckled face and undone hair of a child that just came in for some Kool Aid after playing all day in the back yard on the swing set with – outfits that the corner prostitute might wear for her shift.
These pictures of Elle, remind me of Jodie Foster and that movie “Taxi Driver”.
YES! the shorts and platforms is totally taxi driver.
totally prostatot.
The cover looks like my 13-year old self did the makeup. a lot of blue eyeshadow and blush and lipgloss that is way too pink.
Wow, she bites her nails! First thing I noticed as a (on the way to becoming former) fellow nail-biter. That’s so rare in Hollywood, or at least actresses who do hide it well.
Don’t care for the photo shoot, she’s still too young for that sort of thing.
She seems like a great kid though, how her parents managed to get 2 kid through Hollywood relatively unscathed is still amazing to me. I hope Elle at least considers college, her career will still be there if she takes a little time off for education.
Why are this child’s little booblets showing? Where are her parents?
Come on, she’s not naked. And also, she looks younger than she is but think of it, she’s 16 and at her age a lot of actresses and starlets have shown worse.. or everything.
I think the dresses are ok, it’s just the poses.. still not gonna blame her parents or Elle herself. I blame the director of this photoshoot.
The photoshoot isn’t bad by Hwood standards~she looks super cute. She has been in the business most of her life, so she will OF COURSE have some more mature attitudes about showing skin and doing photo shoots. I remember when I was 16!! Reading some of these comments makes me think of this quote: “When I was young, my mind was wide and my butt was narrow. Now, I’m older and my mind is narrow and my butt is wide.” I was pretty advanced at 16. Just sayin’….
The cover is also creepy.
I see nothing wrong with this photoshoot. None of the poses are sexual, and none of the outfits are too revealing imo. I think just when someone looks really young, younger than their age, people have a tendency to think it’s lolitaesque when it’s really just their face that looks young. she is not posing sexually and the outfits are not too much, imo
+ 1000. This photo shoot is perfectly fine. I don’t see any sexual poses or too revealing outfits either. She’s already 16 years old.
Actually, I find the photos and the clothes absolutely stunning, as well as Elle, and they’re perfect for Elle’s style.
this is creepy. I dont have a problem with sex or a sexy photoshoot. The creepy part is that they are making it childlike and sexualizing that. When is Hollywood going to stop worshiping extreme youth? They only do this to women, as if youth and beauty is all they have to offer, and you’re useless as soon as you hit 30. Meanwhile, the male actors just begin hitting ther stride at that same age….
Amen! TELL IT!
Let me tell ya, NO ONE considers ME a prude . . . but I’m the ONLY person I know who felt like “these must be the LAST DAYS prophesied about” when Britney Spears came out in the 90’s. I mean – WTF was up with that? Even my “Born Again Christian” neighbors bought the CD for their five-year-old daughter.
(Sorry for the ramble.)
Sorry but I disagree. Im the mother of an 18 year old boy and Ive watched every tween and youth cable channel ( nick, disney etc etc) and they sexualize young men A LOT. It was very disturbing to see VERY young Zac Efron, Taylor Laughtner and a parade of other young men sexualized for commercial marketing and gain.
Having said that 16 year olds are sexual creatures and thats just the way it is. I dont get this hypocracy in our society that on the one hand we have “16 and pregnant” as a show and on the other hand we have rightous indignation at a photo shoot like this.
I dont see the big whoop here. In fact its rather tame.
what is creepy to me is not her age -16 isn’t that young. 16 yo are definitely sexual, want to look good and be found desirable.
a 16yo would actually choose any of these outfits for themselves? maybe pieces, but as a whole, NO. the looks are ugly.
if i had a 12 year old (even 18) that dressed like this, i would be very depressed. FFS, even a 21 yo dressed like this is sad. the combinations of the clothing are terrible -for any age.
what is creepy is using a model that looks 12 (at most) and dressing her in in sheer clothing, platforms, bikini tops (such high fashion, bikini tops), the ramdom-ness of the articles of clothing (dress up? too young to have any fashion sense? runaway?) and posing her like a junkie in a bathtub.
so, creepy because it looks to be glamorizing run-aways, child prostitution, and junkie culture – someone underage and vulnerable . nothing sexy about any of it.
yes, it could have been worse but this is bad enough to warrant being called creepy.
sorry about the rant.
The sun glasses directly reference Lolita so I’d say yes, and it was on purpose. But she’s not 11 any more and it’s not that distasteful as far as shoots go…
She is older than she looks. The poses aren’t particularly sexual, and the clothes aren’t terribly revealing.
She seems like a nice girl.