Dakota Fanning says she was asked ‘super inappropriate’ questions as a child star

The actor said the downfall of other child stars had been ‘deeply shoved down my throat’

Dakota Fanning (Getty Images)

Dakota Fanning has revealed that she was asked “inappropriate” questions when she was a child star in Hollywood and expressed “compassion” to others who had gone through the same experience.

The actor, now 30, is best known for her early roles in films such as Man on Fire and War of the Worlds, where she starred alongside major names like Denzel Washington and Tom Cruise. She started acting on television when she was just six.

The Perfect Couple star, who recently that having children is the “most important” thing to her, has been reflecting on the often uncomfortable nature of being a child actor in the media spotlight.

In an interview with The Cut, Fanning said that the tabloid obsession with the likes of Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan and the unfortunate impact it had on their careers was “deeply shoved down my throat.”

Fanning added: “In interviews at a young age, I remember journalists asking me, ‘How are you avoiding becoming a tabloid girl?’ People would ask super-inappropriate questions. I was in an interview as a child and somebody asked, ‘How could you possibly have any friends?’ It’s like, Huh?”

Continuing, Fanning expressed “compassion for people who have been made into examples” and opened up on why she didn’t go through the same problems. “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,” she said.

She added that she was “being respected as an actor and as equal as you can be for that age.”

After being asked about the media’s fascination with “fallen child stars” Fanning said: “That’s the thing. It’s like, Is that what you want to happen to me somehow? Is that what you want to happen to these people?”

Fanning did concede that she was a “little too young for it to fully hit me” but by the time she got older the trope of wanting a youngster to fail was “sort of being recognized as probably not the best way to treat people.”

Dakota Fanning, as a child, with her War of the Worlds co-star Tom Cruise (Getty Images)

Recently, Demi Lovato and Drew Barrymore have reflected on the dangers they faced growing up in the entertainment industry as child actors.

Sitting down to discuss the highs and lows of their childhood ascent to stardom for Lovato’s new documentary, Child Star, the two actors recalled being given “substances” at a young age.