A star since childhood, Elle Fanning has captivated audiences with her charm, wit and grace. As she returns to our screens with her spirited portrayal of Catherine the Great, she tells Charlotte Brook about growing up on set, learning to speak her mind and why she believes in love at first sight
‘I ’ve been learning adulthood,’ says Elle Fanning of the latest chapter of her life. It’s an education the world has been witnessing, quietly optimistic that this seemingly self-possessed young woman has managed to avoid the so-called ‘curse of the child actor’. After all, Fanning first appeared on the silver screen aged two, playing a younger version of her sister Dakota’s character in I Am Sam and, ever since, her life has unfolded with the film rolling. She had her very first kiss on-camera in Ginger & Rosa; instead of going to university, she says her ‘college’ experience came from shooting with Sofia Coppola, who directed her in Somewhere and The Beguiled and became a mentor. ‘I’ve been busy working out all those “adult” things,’ the actress explains. ‘How to live on my own, who I am.’
Over the past few years, Fanning has become perhaps best known for her role as the Russian Empress Catherine II in Hulu’s hit comedy The Great, which puts a novel spin on the story of a bewildered teenage bride who develops into a radical ruler. Written by The Favourite’s Tony McNamara, it burst onto our screens in 2020, recounting the early years of Catherine’s marriage to the monstrous Peter III (a perfectly cast Nicholas Hoult). Winter Palace power struggles, seductions and chaotic attempts to solve the country’s problems are relayed with highly stylised, pitch-black comedic brio, gleeful gaudiness and gore – a combination that has left audiences delightedly slack-jawed and critics proffering five-star reviews. The show’s popularity – and multiple Emmy nominations – confirmed Fanning’s status as a household name, and prompted the studio to bring back the drama for a second, and now third, series, which airs later this year.
Today, Fanning is fresh-faced, with her sunshine-yellow hair scraped back in a bun and the relaxed glow of someone off work and at ease – she is about to go and play tennis with Dakota, to whom she’s extremely close. While all she can reveal about season three is that it’s bigger and better than ever, featuring the signature high jinks and high treason, she is effusive about her character, in whose mind she clearly spends a lot of time, on- and off-camera.
‘When I was first cast, Tony told me there was really no need to do any research, because the story is not
