Trust us: You've never seen anything quite like Elle Fanning's performance in The Neon Demon, out June 24, before. In it, 18-year-old Fanning plays Jesse, an aspiring model who moves to Los Angeles and quickly becomes the It Girl of the moment. But soon, she realizes that a group of beauty-obsessed women will go to any lengths necessary (and we mean any) to get what she has. The film is aesthetically stunning, but it's also hard to watch at times, given the dark subject matter. However, Fanning—no surprise here—is a revelation as always, rising to the challenge and pulling it off beautifully.
In real life, the recent high school graduate ("It was a big [moment], and it's very exciting," she tells us) is light, cheery, and full of laughter. But it's obvious that the movie's theme weighed heavily on her, and she came away with a deeper understanding of what it means to be beautiful and confident in today's world. So what's her advice? And which Oscar-winning actress did she talk to for guidance? Here's what Fanning had to say about all that and more.
Glamour: Let's start off with this fascinating piece of information: Your first name is actually Mary.
Elle Fanning: Yeah! I just never went by Mary, like ever. My mom goes by her middle name, and my sister [Dakota Fanning] goes by her middle name. Her first name is Hannah. It’s possibly a Southern thing, I don’t know. But since my mom goes by her middle name, we go by our middle names too. Although, it was awkward in school when they were calling roll call because they’d go, “Mary? Mary?” Kids would be like, “There’s no Mary here.” I’d awkwardly raise my hand, like, “Uh, it’s me.” [Laughs]
Glamour: You are incredible in The Neon Demon, but it’s an intense film. After doing this role, is there anything you won't do?
Elle: [Laughs] I’m sure there will be something, like skydiving or something! But with this part, I got to do a lot of things—but things that are exciting too. Normally in films, you don’t get to wear as much makeup [as I did in this role] because you want to look as natural as possible. But with this, with the clothes, the hairdos, the makeup looks—everything was out there. The characters, in their growth, are very subtle, but it’s so exaggerated around them.
Glamour: Did any of the makeup trends in the film rub off on your everyday style?
Elle: Definitely! I love glitter. Love glitter! When I got to put the glitter on my eyes, now I’ve actually worn glitter on red carpets or going out with my friends to high school parties. It’s very '90s!
Glamour: The last 30 minutes of the film are so shocking. I don’t want to give anything anyway, but what do you hope moviegoers say after watching?
Elle: I would love for them to say, “Wow.” I think that people think it's just a horror movie, or a fashion horror movie, but the movie is actually not about fashion at all. It’s a beautiful backdrop for the world’s obsession with beauty. I think that people need to start thinking about how obsessed we are with beauty, which is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s a stock that never goes down. Beauty is always in style—whatever beauty means to you personally—and it’s different for everybody, but it’s something that’s always going to be there in our lives. It’s how we deal with it that matters, especially in a world with Instagram and social media. We look at these images and we find those beautiful, and that’s scary because those images are dead. If that’s the ultimate perfection, then what are the real tangible things? What do we think about those?
Glamour: Speaking of aiming for perfection, we recently had National Selfie Day, which seems odd because what day doesn't someone post a selfie?
Elle: I know! There’s probably not one day that someone in the world doesn’t post [a selfie]. I kind of like selfies, [and] as much as I wish we didn’t live in this world where there’s a selfie day, I’m also a teenager, and I take selfies all the time with my friends. It’s a thing that if in you’re in this generation, it’s kind of inevitable. It is what it is. I like when people get creative with their selfies. Be artsy with it, and get creative!
Glamour: When you first met director Nicolas Refn, he asked you if you thought you were beautiful. What did you say?
Elle: I laughed, and then I said yes! [Laughs] Nic and I realized what the movie was about in that moment. It’s a very, very uncomfortable question. Beauty is very taboo, and loving yourself is uncomfortable, which is what we’re trying to move forward so people do love themselves. There’s a line that you can cross which is extreme narcissism, but I think that everyone should think that they are beautiful. That’s healthy—and fortunately I think we are moving towards that, which is great. But in that moment, I think Nic and I realized what the movie is about and why that makes someone uncomfortable to say that.
Glamour: Is there an actress whose confidence in their beauty and themselves inspires you?
Elle: Wow. I’ve worked with a lot of great actresses. It's hard to choose one, but I did a film not too long ago with Nicole Kidman. She’s so tall, but she very much embraces how tall she is. I grew seven inches when I was 12, and I’m not as tall as her—I’m 5'9"—but also, everyone is not [always that] tall in the movie industry! [Laughs] Having talked to her about it and seeing her so confident...I really looked up to that.
The Neon Demon is in theaters now.
More From Glamour:
