Elle Fanning got to live out her childhood dreams in 'Teen Spirit'.
Elle Fanning
The 20-year-old actress always imagined she'd grow up to be a pop star so getting the chance to play Violet Valenski, a teenager with musical ambitions, in the upcoming movie offered her the chance to bring back her old "spirit".
She told The Hollywood Reporter: "[As a child], I imagined myself on stage and being a pop star one day. [Younger Elle] would be smiling so big and probably dancing at the moment.
"I was constantly dancing and performing and singing. You would see me (back then) and be like, okay, she's going to be in the entertainment world in some capacity."
And Elle could relate a lot to the "drive" of her Polish-British alter ego.
She continued: "Violet has this drive inside her and this hunger to accomplish her dream. In this industry, you get rejected a lot and people say no to you.
"You have to somehow figure out: how do you find that hunger again and to keep going with your passion."
The actress won praise from producer Fred Berger for her vocal talents, explaining the character evolved when Elle "found her own musical voice".
He added: "I can't imagine another Violet Valenski than the one that Elle portrays. It's very much in her bones and having made two movies with Elle in a row when we shot this, she is this beautiful, adorable sweet hyper-professional girl, but she's got a fire in her that when it comes out It's a beautiful thing."
But while singing came easily to the star, she needed some help from co-star Agnieszka Grochowska, who plays her mother, to master a Polish accent.
Agnieszka said: "Polish is quite difficult, but Elle really has the ear for it."
The movie explores the bond between Violet and her manager/vocal coach Vlad (Zlato Buric) and director-and-writer Max Minghella enjoyed being able to "explore platonic relationships" rather than seek out a love story.
He said: "I think it's really interesting to explore platonic relationships in a movie and especially a platonic relationship between a man and a woman where there's nothing lascivious about it.
"It's a really complicated relationship, but it's a really beautiful one and full of heart."
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