The dreamiest friendship!
Kirsten Dunst Is Obsessed With Elle & Dakota Fanning: "The Third Sister"
Chloe Williams serves as B+C’s Entertainment Editor and resident Taylor Swift expert. Whether she’s writing a movie review or interviewing the stars of the latest hit show, Chloe loves exploring why stories inspire us. You can see her work published in BuzzFeed, Coastal Review, and North Beach Sun. When she’s not writing, Chloe’s probably watching a Marvel movie with a cherry coke or texting her sister about the latest celebrity news. Say hi at @thechloewilliams on Insta and @popculturechlo on Twitter!
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Out of all the celebrity friendships in the world, Kirsten Dunst and Dakota and Elle Fanning has to be at the top. Elle and Kirsten starred together in the 2017 period drama The Beguiled, and Kirsten and Dakota were supposed to work on an adaptation of The Bell Jar before K exited the project in 2019. But these three are more than just friends — Kirsten considers herself "the third sister."
Here's the sweetest update on Kirsten Dunst, Dakota Fanning, and Elle Fanning's friendship.
Kirsten Dunst praises "real" Fanning sisters.
For Dakota and Elle Fanning's Vanity Fair cover story, Kirsten Dunst (or is it Kirsten Fanning now? Kidding.), praises the sisters' authenticity.
“They’re so smart—smarter than I was at this age.… But also, they’re real," the Little Women actress tells VF. "They understand the bulls—t of this industry.”
“Elle feels like the younger sibling to me,” she continues. “She presents herself more unencumbered by things, but I think that’s deceiving. All three of us wear things pretty lightly when we present ourselves to the world, but there’s a depth. They’re very discerning, very intuitive. Nothing gets past those two.”
Michelle Pfeiffer agrees: “I’ve never felt there was anything I could teach these two, ever. They’re a lot younger than me, but they feel like peers.”
But Elle attributes her ascent into the next phase of her career to her big sister. “Dakota was always there to protect me,” she says. “It’s molded both of us, the responsibility that she’s felt—that I don’t even know that she’s felt.”
The Fanning sisters are about to embark on their first acting gig as scene partners: an adaptation of Kirstin Hannah's The Nightingale. “When we were younger, we wanted to make sure that people saw us differently, and we wanted to give each other space to carve our own path,” Elle tells VF. “But as adults, it’s been very fulfilling to merge.”
“We’ve literally never done a scene together, ever,” Dakota says.
And they're both hoping they can actually complete filming. “Am I going to laugh?" Elle asks. "Better to get it out of your system now.”
Love the Fanning sisters? Elle Fanning Remembers "Uncontrollably Sobbing" During One Of Dakota Fanning's Movies As A Kid (same, TBH).
