DAKOTA FANNING NIGHT TERROR

Now 30, the former child star is older and wiser as she talks about her new dark thriller, working with her sister – and the daughter of an Oscar winner

- KATIE ELLIS

Dakota Fanning may have found fame as a child star, but the 30-year-old’s latest film is strictly for grown-ups. She describes the supernatural horror movie The Watched as “a fairytale for adults” interwoven with “Irish folklore and Celtic myth”.

Dakota plays Mina, a 28-year-old artist who gets stranded in a large forest in western Ireland. Finding shelter, she becomes trapped alongside three strangers who are watched and stalked by mysterious creatures each night.

Here, the Twilight star reveals why she identified with the role of a woman facing a turning point in her life; tells us how she and her little sister, fellow actress Elle, 26, have taken their relationship behind the camera by forming their own production company, and reflects on what it’s like to be directed by the daughter of an Academy Award winner.

Dakota, what can you tell us about your character?

“When we first meet Mina, she’s at a crossroads – the kind of life-decision moment that I think a lot of people experience as a young adult. She’s trying to figure out what’s next for her and what it is in her life she feels is missing.