Ellen: On today's show, she's adorable, she's talented, Dakota Fanning is here! (applause and cheers) Dakota Fanning! She's in Charlotte's Web, it opens Friday, and there's somebody who's really excited she's here - we called her yesterday and invited her to the show and she's in our audience today, say hello to Alexandra Cusack! Hello! (applause) Are you excited?
Alexandra: Yes! I'm very excited.
Ellen: I'll bet, you didn't know we were gonna call and say come to the show.
Alexandra: No, 'cause my mom didn't tell me.
Ellen: No, she wasn't supposed to tell ya. And you have a question for Dakota, right?
Alexandra: Yes, I definitely do and thank you for inviting me on the show.
Ellen: Oh, you're welcome, thanks for being able to come. And when she comes out here we'll ask her the question, alright?
Alexandra: Okay!
Ellen: Alright, good, and if I run out of some I just might go to you, have a few handy, okay? (laughter)
Alexandra: Okay.
Ellen: Alright, good!

Ellen: Our first guest is one of the most sought after actresses in Hollywood and she's only 12-years-old. Her new movie Charlotte's Web opens tomorrow - take a look.
(A clip from Charlotte's Web plays).
Ellen: Please welcome back the lovely Dakota Fanning! (cheers and applause)
*Dakota walks out waving, hugs Ellen, and sits down*
Dakota: *points to shirt* We're matching!
Ellen: We are matching, and you have the Hello Kitty -
Dakota: I have the Hello Kitty today -
Ellen: Fantastic. That's adorable.
Dakota: Thank you!
Ellen: I love it. And, and now I'm happy I wore this.
Dakota: Oh great, me too! (laughs)
Ellen: Yeah! So um, uh I heard you went to Tom and Katie's reception here the other night...
Dakota: Yes!
Ellen: I was invited to that and it was after something I was doing and I didn't have a chance to go, was it exciting?
Dakota: It was exciting, it was really - well you know, I wasn't there for the whole time, I was just there for a little bit but it was really, really, really exciting.
Ellen: Was Suri there?
Dakota: Suri was not there when I was there, I don't know if she came later but probably not.
Ellen: That's a cute baby.
Dakota: She's beautiful.
Ellen: Who was there, was it huge?
Dakota: There was a lot of people there, it was really big, it was great to see Tom and Katie. You know, I haven't seen them in a long time, so it was great to get to see them.
Ellen: Mm hm. And so, like, what do you do at a party like that? 'Cause nobody else is your age there, right?
Dakota: I know, it's just, I was excited to see Tom and Katie and Steven was there, Steven Spielberg was there so I saw him...
Ellen: Uh huh. (laughter)
Dakota: So it was, you know, it was a really fun party, but it was, you know, a lot of people were there.
Ellen: And now when you hang out with people your age, do they just think that this is incredible, that you're like, hanging out with Tom and Katie? 'Cause I think most people would just be flipping out. I mean most people are excited to meet you, and then here you are hanging out with people your age, and you're hanging out with people like Steven and Tom and Katie. Do they, do they freak out, or do they just -
Dakota: Well I think they, they do at the beginning, I mean, you know, I still freak out! You know what I mean? (laughs)
Ellen: Yep, yep. (laughter)
Dakota: But, but, I'm still freaking out about it, you know.
Ellen: Really, do you still get excited?
Dakota: Oh yeah, definitely.
Ellen: And so, doing Charlotte's Web, what was it like to work with all those animals? Was it, I mean, it must have been fun, but was it hard? Cause it's hard to work with animals, right?
Dakota: Right, you know -
Ellen: They say kids and animals are the worst, and you're working with an animal.
Dakota: Right. (laughter) You know, I thought they were great, I thought they were really smart, and they were really - you know, my most important person, I do most of my scenes with, is Wilbur the pig, so there was fifty pigs we worked with that -
Ellen: Fifty pigs.
Dakota: Right.
Ellen: Cause they had to go through all the different stages.
Dakota: Right, the different sizes, and then they all, you know, were good at something, they were all either good at being held, or you know, good at being bottle fed, and...
Ellen: Uh huh. But they squeal a lot, really, you could hold, some of them you could hold?
Dakota: Definitely. Some didn't like to held, like in the scene where I'm taking Wilbur to the Zuckerman's barn, the pig did not want to be there but it was good, because Wilbur didn't want to be going away from me so that squealing worked.
Ellen: Right, right.
Dakota: But sometimes the squealing didn't work. (laughs)
Ellen: Right, right.
Dakota: You know, so we'd bring in a new pig, and another pig that we would use.
Ellen: And did you, like, before the film did you eat bacon? (laughter) And now can you possibly see yourself eating bacon?
Dakota: I can't now.
Ellen: Yeah.
Dakota: No, I mean not -
Ellen: So you used to eat bacon.
Dakota: Yes, oh yes.
Ellen: And now you look at it and you go "I can't do that"?
Dakota: It's just too sad cause they're so smart and so cute.
Ellen: Yeah.
Dakota: I just can't, it doesn't even appeal anymore.
Ellen: Alexandra - this is Alexandra, she has -
Dakota: Hey Alexandra!
Ellen: She's very excited that you're here.
Dakota: Oh, I'm so excited to meet you, you're so pretty.
Alexandra: Thank you.
Dakota: Oh, you're welcome!
Alexandra: Okay. If you weren't acting, what would you be doing right now?
Dakota: Right. Right now.. you know, I've been acting since I was six, I started acting, and you know, before that I don't even know what I wanted to do! (laughter) I kind of always was, like, playing around the house and, you know, pretending to do different things, so what I'm doing now is what I wanted to do then, but I'm just doing it on camera. (laughs)
Ellen: Get out of that body, whoever you are. (laughter) You're not a kid! Alright, so we're gonna take a break and then we're gonna talk about Charlotte's Web some more and then I have a gift for you also.
Dakota: Oh!
Ellen: Yes, we'll be right back.

Ellen: Welcome back, we are with Dakota Fanning - or, she claims to be. (laughter) And this is, ah, you just got back, you shot in Australia, is that where you filmed?
Dakota: Yes, we filmed the movie in Melbourne, Australia, so -
Ellen: And how long were you there?
Dakota: About three months, two-and-a-half, three months I was there.
Ellen: And did you eat, did you start eating, you have Vegemite here which is a very Australian thing.
Dakota: Yes, they eat this all the time.
Ellen: Uh huh.
Dakota: On like, all stuff.
Ellen: It's like their peanut butter.
Dakota: Right, it's like their peanut butter and they have it on their bread -
Ellen: And, did you eat it? Cause you have it here.
Dakota: Right. I - I tried it. And then everyone who would come down to visit, like my dad and my grandmother and my sister - I would make them all try that.
Ellen: Uh huh.
Dakota: And it was like their initiation to Australia was trying Vegemite. So that's what everyone did.
Ellen: But you won't eat it.
Dakota: Oh I've tried it! (laughter)
Ellen: Yeah I know you've tried it.
Dakota: No, I won't eat it. No.
Ellen: Cause it's so bitter, the taste is uh... yeah.
Dakota: They swear there's no fish in it.
Ellen: Uh huh. Yeah.
Dakota: But it tastes like fish to me! (laughter)
Ellen: Yeah. It's very weird. My girlfriend's from Australia and she eats it all the time and I really, I think it's disgusting. (laughter) I think it's horrible, I can't eat it. Alright, so tell us about - there must be holidays, cause you're working all the time, you're gone all the time, and it must be fun for the whole family to be getting together. Do you have like a tradition, or?
Dakota: It is, well at Christmas we - on Christmas Eve we get to open one present, and it's the same present every year. We get a new pair of pajamas.
Ellen: Uh huh.
Dakota: We get a new pair of pajamas to wear on like, Christmas Day, they're like our Christmas Day pajamas.
Ellen: That's cute, the whole family wears 'em!
Dakota: But they're not matching, they're different.
Ellen: Oh.
Dakota: They're not matching - my sister and I have matching pajamas.
Ellen: Uh huh.
Dakota: We wear the same ones and we get a new one each year, and so that we always can't wait to see what our pajamas are.
Ellen: Oh, that's adorable.
Dakota: And then, my sister, every Christmas Eve, with the pajamas, she gives us a new ornament, so we all have a different ornament. Last year she gave me a cell phone, a cell phone ornament, she gave my grandmother an angel... head. (Laughter) No, no! In a good way, it was a pretty angel head! (Laughs) And then, she gave my grandfather a set of, like, gold clubs and a little golf bag because he loves golf.
Ellen: Cute, that's cute! Well we heard about the pajama thing, and I know you got also a new puppy -
Dakota: Yes!
Ellen: What kind of dog is it?
Dakota: A schnoodle!
Ellen: Uh huh.
Dakota: A miniature schnauzer toy poodle mix.
Ellen: Oh, that's cute.
Dakota: She's really cute.
Ellen: And they don't shed or anything, they're hypoallergenic -
Dakota: No, she's hypoallergenic, she doesn't shed at all.
Ellen: Oh, that's good.
Dakota: She's white and she has blonde highlights down her back.
Ellen: Oh, oh highlights? (laughter)
Dakota: Oh they're natural!
Ellen: Oh, okay.
Dakota: She has natural blonde highlights.
Ellen: You don't take her to a salon.
Dakota: No. (laughs)
Ellen: Alright, well here's what we got for you, come on over here. We got you pajamas for the whole family -
(Dakota screams, audience applauds)
Dakota: Oh, they're so cute!
Ellen: And everybody has their names on the back of 'em -
Dakota: Oh they're so cute! Oh my god!
Ellen: And here's the dog -
Dakota: Look at that! That is so cute! I love these!
Ellen: So you're gonna have matching pajamas this year.
Dakota: I - we're gonna wear these!
Ellen: Good, I want you to! Take a picture, send us pictures -
Dakota: Definitely! We're gonna - these are so cute.
Ellen: I know. This one, ah, might be a tad big for you but you can grow into it. (laughter)
Dakota: That's alright, that's alright!
Ellen: That, you give that to the real Dakota. (laughter) And ah, Charlotte's Web opens everywhere tomorrow.