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Dakota to present at the Critics Choice Awards

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»007 x At Marc Jacobs Boutique

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»001 x Brigitte Lacombe photoshoot

Prince-Bythewood also says there is still a lot of kid left in Fanning, even if she grew 3 inches between the end of shooting early this year and post-production work later on.

"She can be a 14-year-old cheerleader, giggling and all that. For me, being an athlete (she ran track at UCLA), there's a thing against cheerleaders, and we playfully went back and forth. She has no inhibitions. She bounces around between scenes and does this hysterical imitation of a model's walk."

Sources: USA Today|Dakota Fanning is a teenager.
Get used to it.

From the tips of her neat navy-lacquered toes to the top of her flowing, corn-silky hair, Hollywood's reigning child star is no longer a child.

She is 14 and a sophomore at a Los Angeles high school after being taught by her longtime tutor until the eighth grade.

She's a varsity cheerleader and attended cheer camp this past summer.

An imposing pair of patent pumps with chunky 5-inch heels suggest Fanning might be exploring her inner glamazon.

Not quite. For one, she's not that into makeup yet.

"There's always the experimenting with makeup and the fun part of it, but there's no need to grow up any faster than I will, you know?"

Uh-huh. What about dating?

"I think that happens all at the right time. And I look forward to that part of my life."

Such a wait-and-see attitude is a rarity in the tumble-out-of the-limo era of Lindsay and Britney. As her Bees castmate Queen Latifah notes: "Dakota is very grounded. She's nonplussed by Hollywood. And she has a very solid family."

Fanning's film projects also are beginning to reflect her maturing mind-set. As she says, "I won't be able to play the same roles as I did when I was 6 or 9. I'll be 15 in February, and as I get older, the roles will inevitably change. I look forward to that."

Will she be able to follow Jodie Foster's path into a career as an adult, or will she lose her audience as she ages?

The reception to The Secret Life of Bees, which remains in the top 10 and has made about $25 million in three weeks, suggests Fanning just might make the leap.

She has appeared in movies aimed at grown-ups since she broke through at age 6 opposite Sean Penn in 2001's I Am Sam, often paired with an established actor who could benefit from a dose of her worldly yet innocent cuteness. Those who have gained from the Fanning effect include Denzel Washington in Man on Fire, Robert De Niro in Hide and Seek and Tom Cruise in War of the Worlds.

She also has done films that have alarmed grown-ups, specifically the recently released Hounddog, in which her character is raped off-camera.

But in The Secret Life of Bees, she has her first bona fide grown-up part, with all the complex feelings that go along with it. As Lily, a motherless 14-year-old in 1964 who runs away from her abusive father and takes refuge with a trio of Southern black women, she declares herself "unlovable" and struggles to rise above the harsh realities of her past.

"It's definitely different from anything I've done before," says Fanning, a bookworm who has read Bees twice. "She goes through every possible emotion that you can have in a film. That was a dream come true for me as an actor, and definitely what drew me to the story."

Plus, she gets to kiss a boy, namely Tristan Wilds. Not that Fanning hasn't puckered up before in such films as Sweet HomeAlabama (she was the young Reese Witherspoon), Hounddog and the upcoming Winged Creatures.

Told that it seems as if she has been kissing up a storm for a while, Fanning laughs and then explains, "This one was more serious." Especially since it's the early '60s, a time of racial unrest, and the young man is black. "This one was more of a relationship. Also, it was kind of a forbidden love kind of thing."

Bees did provide Fanning with her first real chance to immerse herself in a female-driven universe on-screen. The trio of Latifah, Sophie Okonedo and Alicia Keys embody the honey-making sisters, while Jennifer Hudson is Rosaleen, Lily's caretaker and ally.

A woman director and writer, Gina Prince-Bythewood, called the shots behind the scenes as well. Fanning already was part of the deal when the filmmaker came aboard, and Prince-Bythewood was a bit nervous about how puberty was treating her star. "I wanted to see if she was going through an awkward stage," she says. "I invited her over to my house to talk, and from the moment she walked in, I thought, 'Oh, thank you, God. She is so beautiful.' "

Prince-Bythewood also says there is still a lot of kid left in Fanning, even if she grew 3 inches between the end of shooting early this year and post-production work later on.

"She can be a 14-year-old cheerleader, giggling and all that. For me, being an athlete (she ran track at UCLA), there's a thing against cheerleaders, and we playfully went back and forth. She has no inhibitions. She bounces around between scenes and does this hysterical imitation of a model's walk."

Prince-Bythewood also accompanied Fanning to her first live concert to watch Keys in action at the Staples Center, backstage visit and all.

Fanning stars in a sci-fi thriller next year, Push, in which she plays a psychic. "Yes, I can see the future. It's a cool effects movie."

As for her own future, she will predict only that she will continue acting for a long while. As Fanning says, "I know what I was meant to do and what I want to do and what I love to do. I feel at home."
|||| 1224993847|Leila|Winged Creatures News!|We have some cool news about Winged Creatures! Appearently the movie will be released on March 2009 in USA! It's not pretty close but it isn't too far either! thanks to dakotalicious from DD for finding the article!!!

Also, it says some cool little things about Dakota's role, you can read the whole article in the full story:

"You just look at Dakota and Josh and the way they stand up in this movie compared to all their other films and it just takes your breath away."|Little Fish director Rowan Woods has not cheered up with his latest film, Winged Creatures.

His first feature, The Boys, was loosely based on the murder of Sydney nurse Anita Cobby, then Little Fish focused on an ex-junkie teetering on the edge of addiction.

Instead of a change to lighter fare, Woods' highly anticipated third film is about a group of people dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder after witnessing a random shooting in the US.

"I was keen to explore more audience-friendly scripts, but ... Winged Creatures was just irresistible," Woods told AAP.

His first US film, Winged Creatures came to Woods from producer Robert Salerno (21 Grams), who was deeply touched by the multi-storyline drama by Roy Freirich.

"(Salerno) related his feelings about September 11 and how the script resonated for him of the sort of trauma that he saw and experienced around him in New York City," Woods said.

While there had been many films exploring the trauma of post-September 11 America, Woods said this film took the themes further.

"I think Winged Creatures goes way beyond those sort of issues in previous films because it actually more directly addresses the consequences of violence in American society, particularly in relation to guns," he said.

"But the thing about the script is it does it in a very clever, covert way and you're never aware of the fact that it's a political script, or it's a hot social issue.

"It's just a deeply affecting personal story about these ordinary people, ordinary Americans, who are the victims of horrible gun crime."

Woods found many doors suddenly opened to him in Hollywood because of Cate Blanchett's starring role in Little Fish, and it allowed him to again attract an all-star ensemble cast, including Forest Whitaker, Guy Pearce, Kate Beckinsale, Dakota Fanning, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Jennifer Hudson.

Whitaker and Beckinsale were the first to sign on to the film, and once they had the rest was easy.

"With Forest and Kate on board all of the other actors began to swarm around the project," he said.

"It was a very very exciting time."

One of the toughest and most complex roles in the movie went to Hollywood starlet Fanning (War of the Worlds), who was just 13 at the time.

"Dakota was looking to transition out of child-like roles, so it was a huge thing for her," he said.

"In the climactic scene, which is really a scene between her and (her 12-year-old co-star) Josh Hutcherson, she had to deliver in a very gut-wrenching emotional way that most mature-age actors would be very nervous about, and she just knocked the scene out of the park.

"You just look at Dakota and Josh and the way they stand up in this movie compared to all their other films and it just takes your breath away."

Winged Creatures is due for a March 2009 release in the US with Australia to follow.
|||| 1224891702|Leila|New gallery layout|I've put a new layout on the gallery! is featuring dakota on the Hounddog premiere! the colours are not great, but it's not that bad... Hope you like it, 'cause it took me ages to do it! Also, our host is putting us some rules, so i'll have a toolbar from hollywood.com =/

»021 x Mentor Awards and Fashion Show

»003 x TSLOB screening

JustJared, Marcela for the pics!

»087 x Dakota Cheerleading

||||| Cheerleading pics!|Just Jared posted these pictures of Dakota with her Cheerleading uniform, she looked great in the pics! You can see'em in the gallery:

»010 x Dakota Cheerleading

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