At 19, Elle Fanning is one of Hollywood’s most acclaimed young actresses – and although she hasn’t yet followed the well-trodden route of posing for a Marilyn-inspired photo shoot, she has never made a secret of her love for MM. In a new cover story for Vogue, Elle reveals how studying Marilyn’s life – both on and off the screen – has influenced her own career.
“Marilyn Monroe has been Fanning’s hero for about fifteen years—most of her life. She studies Marilyn’s interviews the way some study paintings by Cézanne. ‘You could always see the emotions that she was feeling . . . in her eyes,’ she says. ‘She didn’t know how great she was.’
She often wonders how Marilyn would have managed social media. For years, Fanning resisted what she calls (in excellent old-lady fashion) ‘the Facebook and the Twitter.’ But as time went on she worried she was too much in her shell. ‘I need to evolve with the times!’ she says.”