We need another Dakota Fanning. Fast.

Having just finished watching the latest version of Charlotte's Web (2006), I can safely say that Dakota Fanning is more than just a sweet face framed with the golden hair of an angel- she is a great child actress.


Please note that I did say CHILD ACTRESS. The problem with children's roles is that they have to be played by children. Bummer. And I have found that too frequently do filmmakers go for cutesy little kids that can't act for s**t but are very good at whining and opening their adawable wittle eyes nice and big. Not so with Miss Fanning.

Little Dakota, at the age of 11 way back in 2006, managed to be likable, sincere and believable, not whiny or annoying in a role that could easily have been assigned to a girl of lesser talent. She could act. Fanning's healthy portfolio of children's roles have earned her the tag of "child star", and she is often parodied as the very epitomy of what I have said she is not. I think everyone needs to watch her in one of her movies again (Charlotte's Web, anyone?) to remind themselves of why she has been more successful than so many adult actors.

But we have a problem here. Dakota Fanning is getting old.


Over the past few years, in an attempt to move away from the "children's roles" she has become known for, she has been taking on roles that might seem controversial and more "grown-up". However, most of these movies have flopped (with the exception of New Moon, but my views on THAT is another story).

Anyway, Dakota Fanning's future aside, in graduating to puberty she has left a gap in the roles for 5-12 year olds. So who's gonna take them on instead? Saoirse Ronan? Nope, she's 16 already. Kick Ass' Chloe Moretz? At 13 that's pushing it. And I can't really think of any more. C'mon, why aren't there any good actresses starting at 5 like Dakota did with I Am Sam? We need them.

A super-sappy child performance can ruin a film for me. It can make the movie seem manipulative and it can just be annoying. Take the Cheaper by the Dozen movies (if any of you actually remember them). Those kids were so freakin' annoying. Yeah, all twelve of them. In a movie where we're meant to be cheering them on, we got a bunch of brats who all fail to be even slightly endearing.

So please, Hollywood. Give us another Dakota Fanning.


Give me some ideas for the next great child actors/actresses in the comments section.