Elle Fanning Opens Up About Being Cast as the World's Most Beautiful Woman

From Harper's BAZAAR

It's no secret Elle Fanning is one of the most beautiful people in Hollywood; you don't play Sleeping Beauty opposite Angelina Jolie's Maleficent based on brains alone (though it should be noted the 18-year-old actress, who got her acting start at age two, is wise beyond her years). It's no surprise, then, that Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn cast her as the most beautiful person in Hollywood-a wannabe model whose arrival in Tinseltown causes anarchy amongst more established wannabe models-in his latest film. An allegory for society's obsession with beauty and perfection, The Neon Demon veers from thriller territory into ghastly slasher faster than a blinding camera flash.

But Fanning is loath to call The Neon Demon cultural commentary. "I think the movie can be a cautionary tale," she accedes. "I think it has a lot to do with the people you surround yourself with." Below, Fanning opens up to tells HarpersBAZAAR.com about playing her most challenging role yet.

Harper's BAZAAR: How did you get involved with the role?

Elle Fanning: I was in South Africa filming a film and this is how I got introduced to Nic's work: there were two TV channels, one was Afrikaans so I couldn't understand and the other one was a movie channel and they only played The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Drive-that's it! So every night I would be like, "OK, Drive's on again! OK, great!" So I really got to know Drive and Nic's style very well-and I was a big fan of Ryan Gosling, so it worked out-but when I got back from that movie I heard that Nic Refn was doing a movie about the fashion world and that a teenage girl, a 16-year-old girl, would be the lead, and I was 16 at the time. Which is very shocking because he's like the king of masculinity and blood and violence. And knowing that, having all all those things combined, in the fashion world with a young girl, that sounds like the coolest thing, very different. I was like, "Oh, I wanna be in it! How do I get it?! How do I get the part?" But I guess Nic and I had psychic powers because he then called and asked me to meet with him at his house. So I came to his house in LA, walked in and it was like princess clothes everywhere. Then his two little girls come out and his wife. So he's this masculine dude but so not. He's surrounded by this feminine force. So I realized, "OK, I understand why you want to do this movie, for your girls. You're around women all the time." He explained what the story was and the themes and then gave me the script and it was like, "OK, we're all in."

HB: What drew you to the character?

EF: I love that she's not a victim, at first, but you think she is. She's very strong. You love her and then you kind of hate her. The movie takes a turn for sure and I think what drew me was the challenge of the transformation she went through because I've never gone this dark before and that was very enticing.

HB: Was it challenging for you to get into that mindset?

EF: We filmed in chronological order. I'd never done that before. It's very different but so helpful for that character. Also the way Nic works is very unusual from other directors. It's in sequence and things are constantly changing, like, "This happened yesterday so we can't do this anymore." The script is not really like the movie. The script is a story-I mean, he's a genius, he has his vision-but he also allows you to have the freedom to take it other places beyond.

HB: Had you ever worked like that before?

EF: No! And also not so closely, it's a real team. He's like one of my closest friends because you are working very intensely together to figure it out. And that one day when I did the fashion show scene, the big transformation sequence, we talk about how that's kind of the Greek myth of Narcissus moment, falling into the pond, seeing the reflection and loving yourself so much. We had two days to film that sequence and it almost started to feel like a music video to me because there's no dialogue and you're all glammed up. Nic plays a lot of music, and I forget which song it was, but I think it was from the '50s, a dreamy love-y song, so it makes you feel really pretty. He would play that over and over. In parts of that I'm walking on a treadmill actually, with my dress tied up because they couldn't follow me in a steady pace when I was walking, so it was easier that way. So in heels on the treadmill. So that scene was a big challenge but also because we had two days it was like a free fall, we could just do whatever and play around with the camera.

HB: How did it feel to be cast as someone whose defining attribute is beauty?

EF: I know! [Laughs] The first thing Nic asked me when I met him that day was "Do you think you're beautiful?" Asked me that!

HB: How do you react to that?!

EF: I'm like, "What?!" I was so uncomfortable. I laughed because no one asks anybody that. Beauty's a complex but very taboo, uncomfortable subject, which is why the movie is also categorized as horror, I think.

HB: He's tackling it head-on.

EF: Yeah, he is. Honestly, he's taking narcissism and making it a virtue.

HB: That's true. She's not evil, per se.

EF: She's not! I think you can view it many different ways. I think she's the poison that comes in and infects the city and those around her. It's like, I think, with my generation with social media. It's seems like narcissism is more talked about.

HB: I think we're in a society today thats trying to accept self-love.

EF: Right! If I asked you, "Do you think you're beautiful?" everyone should say yes. No one should be put down for that because we're trying to promote self-love and that you should love yourself. There's nothing wrong with that. But is there a point where it goes too far? Too much of anything is too much. I think a little bit of it is not bad.

HB: As a young actress growing up in Hollywood, which can be so critical of your looks, were you able to draw on your own personal experiences for this film?

EF: Yeah. I started when I was young so I did understand the feeling of being the youngest person in a room, surrounded by adults, and also feeling naive to stuff. You're a little off balance. I thankfully went to a normal high school, I graduated a couple days ago, so thankfully I was with kids who were my own age.

HB: You got a little dose of reality.

EF: I did, yeah, but also, in a high school, the pressures of growing up and your body changing, that's a lot of pressure too. Then when you do put a magnifying glass on it, you know, paparazzi photos or something, you start to worry. Everyone feels insecure. I would be lying if I was like, "I was never insecure!" [Laughs] I grew seven inches in a year when I was 12. I definitely had very awkward phases. I wore glasses-I love wearing them now-but I would hide. But it never got too out of hand. Also, I have a very grounded family. I still live with my mom and dad and my grandma.

HB: I think everyone has had that moment in the bathroom with the mean girls.

EF: We've all been there. And just like, looking in the mirror at yourself! Those out-of-body experiences where you're like, "This is me?!"

HB: As someone who loves fashion, was this movie a wake-up call to the nature of the industry?

EF: I actually never viewed the movie as being about fashion. Nic says there's enough reality television to do a fashion documentary. He said he set it in the fashion world because obviously it's a beautiful backdrop. In that industry, it's all about the way you look, so to have a movie about beauty in the modeling world is even more beautiful and glittery. But I think that world, it's obviously an exaggerated version of it. We wanted to be truthful but also some things can go a little more like a fairytale world. Abbey Lee was a supermodel, so with some things we would ask her, "Was this what it was like?" Especially the audition scenes because I've never done that. But auditions for films give me a lot of anxiety.

HB: Did you channel that into filming that scene?

EF: A little bit. The nerves of it. They make me very nervous. It's scary. So I think I could relate to that. But also my character is gaining her power in that moment.

HB: Did Abbey take you under her wing and teach you the walk and everything?

EF: She did! She taught me the walk. I've looked up to Abbey so much because I would look at all the runways online. And she would always close the show.

HB: Did working on the film make you look at Hollywood or the fashion industry differently? Did it change your perspective?

EF: I think the movie can be a cautionary tale. Now that I just turned 18, you're kind of released into the real world. Because of that, you need to make sure you find good people to hang out with. You are the company you keep.

HB: What do you hope people take away from the movie?

EF: I love this film so much. I want them to have their own opinion on it. We're not trying to make a political statement here or whatever. It's an artistic film that I also think every teenage girl should see. Hopefully they're shocked by it. My sister saw it and she didn't know anything about it. She came to the LA premiere and she was like, "I felt sick!" She really liked it. I mean, it's a movie, it's pretend. She's an actress, she knows it better than anyone. And if that can still get you? That's pretty cool.

The Neon Demon is in theaters nationwide. Watch the trailer below.