Elle wears Gucci jacket, top, sunglasses, and sunglasses chain; 1300 442 878
Fanning’s genuine warmth, wit and glimpses into the real world, have garnered her fans on social media – for the most part. “Twitter scares me! Oh my God, Twitter is so intense. Instagram I do enjoy; I have a private account and a public account [with 4.3 million followers]. I do think there are dangers that I totally fall into, of looking down that rabbit hole, comparing yourself to everybody else and seeing, oh, their life, that vacation. I try to keep it light and tell fans about movies that are coming out or about a photo shoot. That can get really intense, too. People can say they don’t read any comments, but…” She does a disbelieving face, eyebrow raised. “Mmm, yeah, you do! I do! Of course you look! ‘Oh, your ankles look huge.’ What the heck? It is bizarre, like, who is this person?”
She says she ends up feeling bad for the trolls, wondering about their lives. Surely they’re simply jealous of someone who, instead of going to university or scraping by, is currently playing the empress of Russia, with her husband, Peter III, portrayed by Nicholas Hoult. She’s co-producing The Great (created and written by The Favourite co-writer Tony McNamara), too and says it’s “a dark comedy, so fun. Wacky and raunchy and really out there. But I had to go in the rooms and pitch to all of the different studios or streaming companies. That was daunting. All these guys staring at you.”
As for if all this producing is leading Fanning to directing, “I hope so,” she admits. “Now that I’ve gotten older, I’m much more interested in developing projects and reading material, producing it, maybe not being in it but just getting it made. I really want to direct.”
“We’ll be back at this hotel, and I’ll be 35. And I will,” she adds, pointing at her beaming, apple-cheeked baby face, “look like this.”
The Great premieres on Stan on May 16. The June issue of marie claire is on sale Thursday.
