Dakota Fanning reveals the 'super-inappropriate questions' she was asked as a child star - after making screen debut age six

Dakota Fanning admitted that she is still blown away by the 'super-inappropriate' questions that she was asked as a child star.

The 30-year-old actress, who rose to fame after starring in the 2001 movie I Am Sam, recalled a number out uncomfortable interviews with journalists, who she said asked her uncomfortable things like how she planned on 'avoiding becoming a tabloid girl.'

'People would ask super-inappropriate questions,' the performer told The Cut. 'I was in an interview as a child and somebody asked, 'How could you possibly have any friends?' It's like, "Huh?"' 

While nodding to stars like Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Drew Barrymore, Fanning said she has a 'lot of compassion for people who have been made into examples.'

'If society and the media hadn’t played their part, who knows? I don’t think that it’s necessarily connected a hundred percent to being in this business; there are other factors, too,' she explained. 

She went on to praise her loved ones for always having her back and supporting her through the process. 

'My family is comprised of very nice, kind, protective people,' she said. 'I have a mother who taught me how to treat other people and also how to treat myself. And she was there every second. I was always treated with respect.' 

On set, she said she was fortunate to always be 'respected as an actor and as equal.'

'Looking back on my life, my career is such a present part of it, but I really think about the childhood memories, too. My life doesn’t feel disproportionate with work, and I’m so grateful for that. I’m there doing work that matters,' she raved. 

When asked about the trope of the fallen child actor by the publication, Fanning admitted, at times, she has wondered: 'Is that what you want to happen to me somehow? Is that what you want to happen to these people? I’ve definitely felt this kind of vibe from people almost wanting me to fail or something.' 

'It makes you feel a little bit guarded. I’m just living my life over here. I think also I was just a little too young for it to fully hit me,' she continued. 'People couldn’t get away with that kind of thing so much anymore. By the time I got to that age, it was sort of being recognized as probably not the best way to treat people.'

Later in the interview, she reflected on how different the media was in 'the early 2000s.' 

'It’s crazy the way it was totally normal then to discuss someone’s cellulite,' she marveled. 'It was outrageous then, obviously, but now it’s just unacceptable, so I’m happy that doesn’t happen as much anymore. I mean, there are still pressures, different pressures, but I think there’s more freedom to just be a f**king person.' 

As for what advice she would give her younger self, Fanning said: 'I don’t look back and have any regrets.'

'I’m pretty happy with who I was then,' she explained. 'I never let public perception or any of that stuff really influence the choices that I made, and I just tried to stay true to myself. I’m pretty proud of my past self.' 

In 2019, she previously told PorterEdit that she 'made mistakes... but privately.' 

'The difficult part about starting so young, which I've totally come to accept, is that when you grow up and become a woman, people think you're younger,' she noted.

Dakota, who has starred in more than 44 movies since the age of six, revealed that turning 21 'felt like a weight had been lifted' because there was such huge pressure for the star 'not to mess up' in the public eye. 

She said: 'Turning 21 for me was really freeing. Before that, things could be scary… I would go to a gala dinner and all the glasses would already be filled with wine and I'd hold one up for a toast and [people would say], she's drinking wine!

'No, I wasn't! Stupid little things like that. I mean, I had been to bars and clubs when somebody was having an afterparty for a premiere, but I'd never snuck in.

'I'd never gone anywhere I wasn't supposed to go. I felt there was such an expectation for me not to mess up. Which could have driven me crazy, because that's an outrageous thing to put on a younger person, who's supposed to make mistakes.

'And I certainly have made mistakes, but just privately. When I turned 21, I felt like a weight had lifted; I felt more freedom to come into my own.'

Dakota, who has a slew of movie roles under her belt including playing the younger version of Reese Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama, admitted her parents never pressured her to pursue acting.

She said: 'I've known that I wanted to act since I was six. But I was never made to do anything. […] That's why I hate when people insinuate that I was pushed to do something.'