Fanning ready for the big time

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DARKER ROLE: Dakota Fanning at The Twilight Saga: New Moon premiere in 2009.

FANGS FOR THAT: Dakota Fanning in Twilight: New Moon.

MINDING HERSELF: Dakota Fanning in 2009 film Push.

BIG HOPES: Dakota Fanning with Kurt Russell in Dreamer in 2005.

AT WAR: Dakota Fanning with Tom Cruise and Tim Robbins in War of the Worlds.

THE MAN: Dakota Fanning with co-star Denzel Washington at the Man on Fire premiere in 2004.

GOT IT SEUSSED: Dakota Fanning with co-star Spencer Breslin at premiere of Dr Seuss' The Cat in the Hat in 2003.

STAR ME UP: From stardom at seven in I Am Sam with Sean Penn, Dakota Fanning has literally grown up on screen.

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Dakota Fanning wants to grow up.

The 16-year-old actress, who plays rocker Cherie Currie from the in new biopic The Runaways, admits she wants to do more hard-hitting roles because it is difficult shaking off her child star image.

She said: “I can be sweet little Dakota Fanning, and then I can be totally different in the movies.

“A big reason I wanted to do The Runaways was to do something unlike anything that I've done before.

“I'm ready to have people see me in a different way than like the kid in I Am Sam or War of the Worlds. You have to kind of grow up. Everyone has to do it. I am doing it through films, which may be more difficult but it's what I love to do.”

Fanning – who shot to fame aged just seven in I Am Sam starring Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer - also insists she isn't worried about media attention as she gets older and has vowed to live her life normally.

- Bang! Showbiz