Dakota Fanning was born in Conyers, Georgia. As a child star, she grew up, in a sense, in Hollywood, California.
Fanning was raised, and still seems to be, a devout Southern Baptist. At 11-years-old, Fanning was asked about her faith and if she is a strong believer. She said: "Very, very, very."[1] She clarified her background in the same interview, saying:
I am a Southern Baptist, and I grew up in the south, so every Sunday I went to Sunday school. So I've grown up in a family where that's really important.[2]
She went on to say, with all the innocent passion of an 11-year-old, that it was "sad" that not more people in Hollywood were as passionate about their faith[3] as she was.
And this is all well and good for a pre-teen, but what about now? After puberty and a stint at NYU, it's natural for one's views of the world to change. Not so much, except she's willing to make compromises in her film roles. During a panel discussion at the Bel Air Presbyterian Church in 2009, Fanning said:
[I've spent] my entire life as a Christian person, and… when I'm making choices in movies that I choose to do, you're playing a character a lot of times. Sometimes you can't let your personal beliefs affect that and you have to do what you're driven as an actress to do. But I definitely try to keep my faith and my religion and apply that to my personal life and be the best Dakota that I can be.[4]
Politics of the lemming
Fanning is not a political person–and she'll tell you that. She wasn't following the mid-term election debates in 2010.[5] But the previous year, she was a participant in the infamous "pledge" video a bunch of celebrities made pledging their allegiance to Obama.[6]
So was that just hopping on the Hollywood bandwagon, Obama fever, or true support? We can't really tell, but there are many famous years ahead of this young lady, so we'll see. Keep us updated in the comments.
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