Sibling Revelru

ELLE AND DAKOTA FANNING HAVE BEEN ACTING ALMOST AS LONG AS THEY'VE BEEN SISTERS AND HAVE HIT REMARKABLY FEW BUMPS ON THE ROAD TO GROWN-UP MOVIE STARDOM. THEIR SECRET IS SIMPLE, SAVANNAH WALSH REPORTS: A FAMILIAL BOND EVEN A NOTORIOUSLY TOUGH BUSINESS CAN'T BREAK

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"I was the top dog no matter what," says Dakota. "She was the groom, I was the bride. I was Anna Wintour and she was the assistant." One of their favorite games was inspired by the TLC reality series A Baby Story: Dakota was the mother and Elle was her newborn. The younger Fanning would dive beneath a beanbag while her sister laid on top of it, mimicking labor. Eventually, Elle would emerge, wailing like an infant as Dakota bellowed, "Oh, my baby!" "That's like Nathan Fielder," Elle says now, shaking her head. But she can't be too embarrassed. "That was the most fun I've ever had in my life." Any pair of siblings could devise their own A Baby Story game. But most kids don't have access to prop medical equipment they received snagging a guest spot on ER. Every older sister busts her younger sister for stealing her clothesbut usually not after being tipped off by paparazzi photos. Now 31 and 27, the Fannings have been famous nearly all their lives. Both started acting as children; both had their first kisses on camera.

Yet onscreen and in conversation, the sisters somehow radiate normalcy. Why aren't they more.... "Fucked up?" says Elle, finishing the question. She leans back in her chair, taking a drag from an imaginary cigarette. "We're like, 'We're so fucked up. You don't even know the half."" She laughs. But seriously: "Even though we were young in this business, I don't feel like I missed out on anything.

People want us to feel like we missed out.

They love that narrative." The Fannings have always written their own story. They've worked with many of cinema's great auteurs (Tarantino, Spielberg, and Coppola-both Francis Ford and Sofia). They've received Emmy nominations for splashy streaming projects. And yes, they've sidestepped the traps that snare many young actors forced to grow up too fast.