Fanning grabs reins for flick Dreamer
David Germain

TORONTO—If there’s a Hollywood A-list that casting directors consult when they need a young girl in a lead role, Dakota Fanning certainly is at the top. The 11-year-old star has become such a hot talent, she even manages to cross over to the A-list for young boy roles. Fanning’s part in the horse-racing family flick “Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story” had been written for a boy. Then writer-director John Gatins caught Fanning in “Man on Fire” and rethought the gender of young Cale Crane, who teams with her dad (Kurt Russell) to nurse an injured thoroughbred back to champion status.
“I was so impressed with her as I have been in the past and thought, she’s the perfect age at this point, and what an opportunity it would be for this movie to take on a whole other level of complexity given what she does as an actor,” Gatins said of Fanning. “I think I even sent Dakota the script that had the word `boy’ in it” to describe Cale, Gatins said. “I told her, `I just wanted you to read the script and see if you might be interested.’ It’s rare air with Dakota, and I think everyone kind of realizes that.”
Chatting with Fanning, though, there’s no rare air. She’s a giggly, smiley, fidgety sprite who’s as sweetly adorable in person as she is on screen. Given the precociousness she captures on film, you expect a little adult spouting about how the character resonated with an emotional truth that leapt off the page and demanded that she take the role. In truth, Fanning just wanted a pony.