Elle Fanning admits she was genuinely surprised by her first Oscar nomination, a recognition for her performance in Neon’s Sentimental Value. The nomination, announced January 22nd, caught the actress completely off guard, a sentiment she says is reflected in her plans for the day.
“I was not watching it,” Fanning told The Hollywood Reporter, explaining she’d already talked herself out of expecting a nomination. She was at her mother’s house with her sister, Dakota Fanning, when the nominations were revealed. The night before, the sisters had enjoyed a late night out.
“Dakota and I had gone out the night before. We had quite a late night,” she recalled, laughing. Fanning was “dead asleep” when the nominations were announced early in the morning and initially assumed the flurry of congratulatory texts were about the film’s overall reception, not a best supporting actress nod for herself.
“I couldn’t compute,” she said, describing her reaction as a state of bewildered disbelief. “I go out bleary-eyed, and I’m like, ‘Mom! Dakota! Wake up. I think I got it. I think I got it,’ ” she recounted, noting the confusion of her family. “I looked like a crazed zombie who was walking in circles saying, ‘Is this real?’ “
After watching a replay of the livestream announcement, the reality of the nomination sunk in, sparking a day of celebration for Fanning and the cast and crew of the Norwegian film. Sentimental Value received a total of nine Oscar nominations, including a second best supporting actress nomination for Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, as well as nods for Stellan Skarsgard (supporting actor) and Renate Reinsve (lead actress).
The film also earned nominations in the categories of best picture, director, screenplay, and international feature. However, Fanning highlighted the editing nomination for Olivier Bugge Coutté as particularly exciting.
“What Olivier has done with the film, and the way that We see edited and constructed — I’m so happy that he wasn’t overlooked because it’s so particular and he has such a keen eye and was so essential to the film,” Fanning explained. “Editors — I’ve come to learn now in the producing process, too — hold the key to your performance in a lot of ways.”
Fanning described the Sentimental Value team as having become a close-knit family since the film’s premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May. “The fact that the family was held together and that no one was left out and that we get to continue the celebration with each other is really meaningful,” she said. “I’ve been quite emotional about this whole experience. I’m still a little glassy-eyed and in shock over it all.”
With a career spanning films like 2014’s Maleficent, 2017’s The Beguiled, 2024’s A Complete Unknown, and television shows such as The Great (2020-23) and 2022’s The Girl From Plainville (for which she received an Emmy nomination), Fanning is a seasoned actress. “I’ve been acting since I was 2. I’ve never gotten to have this experience before. [It’s] my first time being nominated [for an Oscar],” she noted. “It does really mean something to me, to be recognized by my peers. I don’t think you realize how special that feels until it happens.”
The Oscar nomination arrives alongside the release of another Fanning-led film, Predator: Badlands, marking a busy and diverse year for the actress. “You don’t know what projects are going to come to you or what’s being written at the time, but I have been very fortunate to be able to have these varied projects,” she said.
Fanning explained that she consciously avoids being typecast. “I like to be scared. I like to be terrified a bit and step into something new because I feel like that’s how I have to keep pushing myself,” she said. “Maleficent, that was amazing and it opened up a lot of doors for me in that sense, but then there’s a box; people want to put the Disney princess on you. I’m like, ‘Wait, don’t do that to me.’ “
In Sentimental Value, Fanning plays Rachel Kemp, an American actress. She noted a degree of self-reflection while portraying the character. “We’re at different phases, but there was a little feeling while playing her that maybe I was looking back at a younger version of myself in this world,” Fanning explained.
“There are definitely feelings that she has had that I am familiar with, and I’ve had before about myself because when you’ve been doing it for a long time, the relationship to it ebbs and flows,” she continued. “There was something cathartic for me to play her.”
Fanning found the irony of being nominated for a role portraying an actress struggling with her work particularly striking. “To be recognized for a character who is actually struggling in her work and then at the end does a very brave thing and walks away from something she wants, that’s even meta in and of itself,” she said. “Rachel Kemp is nominated,” she exclaimed, laughing. “Once she walks away from the part, I feel like it’s quite hopeful for her. The next thing she’ll do, she’ll really give it her all. She’ll be really good in it.”
Looking ahead, Fanning is preparing to film the long-awaited adaptation of The Nightingale, which she will produce and star in alongside her sister, Dakota. The project, first announced in 2019, faced delays due to COVID-19 and scheduling challenges. Filming is scheduled to begin at the end of March. “I don’t know what I’m going to do on the first day. Our first scene, I think [I’ll be] crying or laughing,” she said.
“She can’t boss me around,” Fanning joked about the on-set dynamic with her sister—though this will be their first time starring in a film together, Fanning played the younger version of Dakota’s character in 2001’s I Am Sam. “We’re fellow actors who will try to keep reminding ourselves of that.”
