Dakota Fanning says having kids is “more important” to her than an acting career.
“Being an actor is a huge part of my identity,” the Equalizer 3 star, 30, told PORTER in an interview published on Monday, April 1. “I don’t really know who I would be without it. But I also have a desire to set up my life and career so that I always have a choice.”
Fanning explained that “having kids is probably more important to me than anything, even being an actor,” adding, “If somebody said I had to choose, I would choose having kids. I’m one of those people who has always felt that pull.”
“I don’t know how I’ll feel when that time in my life comes — and how much I’ll want to work,” she noted. “But, because I don’t have that at the moment, I’m trying to take advantage of the adventures now.”
Fanning continued: “I’m trying to push myself to keep saying yes to things that make me uncomfortable, to keep going to places for long periods of time that maybe I’m scared to do because — God willing — one day, it won’t be as easy.”
The actress told PORTER that she advocates for herself as an adult and remains fortunate she didn’t have to live with social media while growing up in the spotlight.
“It’s such a different experience,” she said of being a child star in this day and age. “I hate to reduce it to social media, but that’s the biggest societal difference – and I think we’re still figuring out how to use it in the right way. I’m grateful I didn’t have to contend with that; there was already enough going on.”
While she hasn’t had children yet, the War of the Worlds star has a strong bond with her family, including her younger sister, Elle Fanning, with whom she regularly attends red carpet events.
In March, Dakota celebrated her Netflix thriller Ripley at a New York Tastemakers event, in which she brought Elle, 25, as her date.
When Elle made her Broadway debut in the play Appropriate in December 2023, her big sister stepped out on the opening night red carpet.
“We’re very supportive of each other. I’m very lucky to have a family member who’s in the business. She understands what it’s like and what you’re going through,” Elle exclusively told Us Weekly in September 2018. “Of course, we talk about [our] movies and, ‘Oh, what are you about to go do?’ And that’s exciting, but there’s other things to talk about.”
Elle explained that her big sibling knows her better than anyone else. “My sister would probably describe me as a free-spirited person,” she told Us. “In the grocery store going down the aisles when I was a kid, I would be dancing and running and kind of carefree. … I bounce off the energy around me.”
