‘My heart is pounding': Elle Fanning on Cannes, red carpet routines and women in Hollywood
Nevertheless, Fanning confesses that fronting the press at the Palais des Festivals for the premiere of her upcoming film Sentimental Value – and as an ambassador for L'Oréal Paris – was 'nerve-racking' in the best possible way.
'My heart is pounding,' Fanning tells Stellar, recalling the moment she stepped onto the red carpet.
'It's like I have so many butterflies because it's just so magical. [Cannes] is a special place for me, I've been here with many films, I've got to be on the Jury. There's no feeling quite like it on the giant carpet at the Palais.'
At 27 years old, Fanning is already a Hollywood veteran. She made her film debut at two in 2001's I Am Sam, playing the younger version of her actor sister Dakota Fanning's character.
After that came a string of roles.
There was Sofia Coppola's dreamy 2010 drama Somewhere, and Maleficent with Angelina Jolie in 2014. In 2017 she co-starred with Nicole Kidman in The Beguiled; and last year, she featured in the Oscar-nominated Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, opposite her close friend Timothée Chalamet as Dylan ('we had such a fun time', Fanning recalls).
She will work with Kidman again in the upcoming TV series, Margo's Got Money Troubles, and was recently cast to play the role of Effie Trinkey in Hunger Games prequel, Sunrise On The Reaping.
She was back in Cannes to promote the Joachim Trier-directed Sentimental Value, in which she fittingly portrays a young Hollywood star.
The movie – already earning raves as an early Oscars contender – won Cannes' coveted Grand Prix after receiving a reported 19-minute ovation.
Fanning says that working with the Danish-born Norwegian director was on her 'bucket list'. But like Kidman, who has famously vowed to work with a female director every 18 months, she is also keen to increase women's representation in Hollywood.
'There's so much more progress to be made,' she tells Stellar. 'But we're having these conversations and there are, hopefully, more opportunities being opened up for these talented female filmmakers.'
When asked how she feels about being a role model to young women herself, Fanning pauses to consider those who have inspired her.
'I have so many role models that have inspired me,' she says. 'I'm trying to learn from [them], and how they treated me, and try to kind of emulate that to younger girls that I work with.
'It's funny not being the youngest person on a film set now.
'I had a lot of people who were kind to me growing up and gave me advice. I just want to be that for people that I work with.
'It's so important for young women to have stories that are told from a woman's point of view.
'To show that you can express yourself and have the confidence to share your stories.'
Part of that confidence, Fanning says, comes from her ambassador role with L'Oréal Paris, whose slogan is famously 'because you're worth it'.
Musing on the sentiment, she says: 'It has nothing to do with stereotypical beauty as we see it. It really has to do with beauty from the inside, which comes from [having] the confidence to love yourself entirely and to treat yourself [with respect].
'We are worth it to feel our feelings. We're worth it to be messy. Especially as women, we have the power. It's such a strong message.'
While public appearances are now old hat for Fanning, she says it still takes her hours to get ready for events and premieres.
As Fanning points out, it's about more than just how she looks.
'It's a three-hour situation to get ready for a red carpet for me,' she says with a laugh.
'I get up, I have coffee, I have breakfast – I put a face mask on. I put ice over the face mask that I use to de-puff from jet lag and travelling. I have a [L'Oréal] Revitalift serum that I use for my skin.
'I also try to calm myself because I know it's going to be nerve-racking. It might be a stressful day, so [it's important to] just kind of have the morning to yourself – and get going.'
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