Check, please! Dakota Fanning is not a fan of dating. The Bell Jar actress talked about putting herself out there in the October 2016 issue of Town & Country.
“The way I prefer to meet someone is through a friend … [They’re] most likely not a freak,” Fanning, 22, explained. “I find dates, in general, horrific. We have to sit there and ask these questions and pretend to eat a meal, and it just feels so stiff.”
According to the mag, Fanning recently split from her much older model boyfriend, Jamie Strachan, who is 13 years her senior. The pair first sparked romance rumors when they were photographed holding hands in NYC in September 2013.
The Effie Gray star rarely spoke about their relationship. Something that perhaps was intentional on Fanning’s part.
“I’m a very private person,” she said, when told that she’s perceived as the “perfect child” in Hollywood. “I’ve been thinking lately about how much do I care what other people’s preconceived notions of me are. They definitely exist. They always will, to an extent, because I’ve been acting for 16 years already and I’m 22.”
Indeed, Fanning has grown up in the public eye. She became a household name with the 2001 drama I Am Sam, costarring Sean Penn, and went on to star in films such as Uptown Girls, The Cat in the Hat, Hide and Seek, War of the Worlds and Twilight. Despite the attention, she’s managed to stay away from the bad press that some other former child stars have experienced.
“I was raised by very traditional Southern parents with Southern manners,” she told Town & Country. “You don’t air your dirty laundry to people that aren’t your family or your friends. Why would I ever want to portray myself as anything other than together?”
