Dakota's View Of 'War'

Young Star On Film And Career

(CBS)  At the age of 11, Dakota Fanning has a list of leading men that any actress would envy. It already includes Sean Penn, Mike Myers, and Denzel Washington. Now she adds Tom Cruise, as she plays his daughter in the new sci-fi thriller, "War Of The Worlds."

"I've been an alien," Fanning tells The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith, "In 'Taken' I was an alien," pointing out this is the first time she is being attacked by aliens.

"I try to do different roles and I try to do different characters that are in different situations," she says. "And this was something I had never done before."

As Rachel, Fanning is, in a way, wiser than her less-than-perfect father, and that's a quality that director Steven Spielberg said he knew she had in her.

"Dakota Fanning was on my mind the second I decided to make 'War of the Worlds,'" Spielberg said in the film production notes. "I know no one her age that's better than she is and more intuitive about human nature. She has a very wise old soul; it's like she's been around about seven or eight times."

And Cruise agrees. "I don't care how old she is; she's a great actress; a delight to be around," he said in an interview with The Early Show entertainment contributor, Jess Cagle. "I really do enjoy being around her."

Fanning credits all the actors she has worked with for the compliments she has received about her work.

"Steven [Spielberg] and Tom [Cruise], they would just make it feel so real," Fanning says of her work in "War of the Worlds." "So even when the stuff wasn't there, just like the little explosions that we had, it would just kind of feel like it was really happening."

"War Of The Worlds" is being released by Paramount Pictures, which is owned by the same parent company as CBS.

About Dakota Fanning:

• Born Feb. 23, 1994, in Conyers, Ga.
  
  
• In 2000, she debuted on an episode of the NBC medical drama "ER," playing a child in need of a bone marrow transplant. She was also seen as the 5-year-old incarnation of Calista Flockhart's title character on "Ally McBeal" and appeared as guest star in "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "Spin City."
  
  
• In 2001, she broke hearts as the daughter of a mentally-challenged man fighting to retain custody in the family drama "I Am Sam." For her portrayal, she received nominations from the Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA. Although she had appeared in the pilot of the 2001 NBC midseason sitcom "The Fighting Fitzgeralds," Fanning did not go on to act in the series, because by the time it aired, she was at work on "I Am Sam."
  
  
• In 2002, she starred in the miniseries "Taken" for executive producer Steven Spielberg, which not only became the Sci-Fi Channel's highest-rated show, but also won the 2003 Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries.
  
  
• She also played the kidnapped asthmatic daughter of Charlize Theron and Stuart Townsend in the thriller "Trapped," and the young version of Reese Witherspoon's character in the romantic comedy "Sweet Home Alabama."
  
  
• In 2003, she took the leading role as a spoiled but ignored young girl with an obsessive distaste for germs in "Uptown Girls." And she played the uptight, control-freak young girl, sister Sally, in the
  live-action adaptation of "Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat."
  
  
• In 2004, she appeared in the action-packed revenge drama "Man on Fire," playing a 10-year-old who befriends her bodyguard (Denzel Washington), prompting him to embark on a deadly journey of retribution when she is kidnapped.
  
  
• Earlier this year, she starred in the thriller "Hide and Seek," playing the daughter of Robert De Niro. The film opened No. 1 at the box office. She also just finished the DreamWorks feature "Dreamer," starring opposite Kurt Russell.
  
  
• This year, she was also part of "Nine Lives," an ensemble of women including Glenn Close, Holly Hunter, Sissy Spacek, and Robin Wright Penn, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
  
  
• She is currently in production in the starring role of Fern in Paramount's/Walden Media's live-action version of E.B. White novel, "Charlotte's Web." Among those also starring in voiceover roles will be Julia Roberts, Oprah Winfrey, and Robert Redford.
  
  
• Fanning will soon tackle another classic. DreamWorks has committed to develop with her the definitive adaptation of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland," which will be written by Emmy Award winner Les Bohem.
  
  
• Fanning is an avid reader who plays the piano, knits, collects dolls, rides horses, and dances ballet. She is also learning to speak both Spanish and French. She lives in Los Angeles with her parents, Joy and Steve Fanning, and her 7-year-old sister, actress Elle Fanning. Elle has appeared in the films "Daddy Day Care" and "The Door in the Floor."


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