Fanning
lends mature spark to ‘Man on Fire’
By
Justin Scott
Daily Bruin
LOS
ANGELES (U-Wire)- For most 10-year-olds,
riding bikes and long division are the
most important things in the world.
But
for fifth-grader Dakota Fanning, reading
scripts and memorizing lines is what occupies
her time. A Hollywood actress, Fanning
co-stars alongside Denzel Washington in
the action thriller “Man on Fire,”
about a hardened former assassin who reluctantly
takes a low-paying bodyguard job protecting
a little girl in Mexico City.
As
the relationship between bodyguard Creasy
(Washington) and the girl, Pita (Fanning),
grows, Creasy becomes unexpectedly fond
of her, forcing him to stop at nothing
to protect her from a group of highly
organized kidnappers who hold Pita for
a hefty ransom.
According
to director Tony Scott, the power of the
relationship between Fanning and Washington
is what made it possible to do many of
the things that he wanted to do with the
movie, such as making it extremely violent.
When Pita is kidnapped, Creasy releases
a fiery rage on anyone he suspects was
involved, inspiring him to kill in ways
unimaginably tortuous. He cuts off a man’s
fingers one by one; he also sticks a low-grade
bomb up another guy’s behind.
“People
got off on the fact that he started killing
because they had fallen in love with the
[characters],” said Scott. “Their
relationship was so strong, and when that
relationship was taken away, the audience
wants to see a full-on commitment to doing
whatever you have to do to get the bad
guy.”
For
Fanning, who is currently missing one
of her front teeth, working with big-name
celebrities is something she is becoming
all too familiar with. From Washington
to Sean Penn (“I Am Sam”)
to Robert DeNiro (the upcoming psychological
thriller “Hide and Seek”),
Fanning has managed to land roles as the
charmingly mature youngster alongside
some of Hollywood’s greatest talents.
And that’s not to say it hasn’t
been deserved. According to Washington,
as soon as they started filming he was
taken aback by Fanning’s talent.
“We
did a scene, and on the very first take
she sits up on the bed and just looks
at me,” Washington said. “And
I was like, ‘This little girl is
looking through me. She’s a little
person; she must just be a little person.’”
And
while Washington might be the man on fire,
that doesn’t stop Fanning from bringing
a little heat to the big screen herself.
“Pita was a great character, and
she’s so much like me, always wanting
to talk and ask questions,” Fanning
said. “That [maturity] was kind
of just her character, because she was
always just wanting to know things and
she was so smart because she always likes
to ask questions.”
For
Scott, the decision to go with Fanning
was a no-brainer. In fact, he said that
he was continually surprised by her professionalism
every day of the filming.
“Dakota
was the only actor I saw [for the part],”
said Scott. “When I met her, I called
her up and said, ‘Do you want your
agent to come with us to the meeting?’
and she said ‘Nope, I want to do
it one-on-one.’”
And
while Fanning might already seem like
an old pro at the business, that does
not stop her from still being a kid. Her
favorite books are “The Giver”
and “Bridge to Terabithia,”
and she says that whenever she gets the
chance, she enjoys learning how to knit.
“It’s
not lonely when I’m on the road,
and my teacher makes it really fun for
me,” she said. “I’ve
always had fun with what I do. So if I’m
able to do acting, I’m happy with
everything.”
