Off The Cuff: Dakota Fanning, Andrew Scott

Hi, Vogue.

I'm Dakota Fanning.

You have to say who you are.

Oh, sorry.

Sorry.

Hi, Vogue, I'm Dakota Fanning.

And this is Andrew Scott.

And this is Off The Cuff.

Okie doke.

[Dakota] You wanna start?

I'm gonna start. Okay.

Dakota, what are you wearing today?

Oh.

[both laughing]

Were you not expecting that one?

I was not expecting that one.

That really threw me.

I am wearing Magda Butrym.

I'm very...

I love this.

I'm a big fan of hers. It's beautiful.

Yeah.

We're funereal black.

I know, I know.

I like the coordination.

Favorite show you're binge watching right now.

Oh wow.

I'm watching Drag Race still.

Oh, yeah.

We love Drag Race.

I'm so jet lagged recently that I just keep falling asleep

and waking up during the catwalk.

Yeah. [Dakota laughing]

So apologies to all the queens.

Didn't you go through a Judge Judy moment?

Judge Judy is my forever Valentine.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Although it's different now,

'cause Byrd, you know, the bailiff, is not there.

We've spoken about this.

Yes, we've spoken about this.

That's my binging at the moment, Dakota.

Okay.

Best New York spot for coffee.

Do you have one?

You know, I lived here for a long time, seven years,

and I would just go to La Colombe.

I have never had a cup of coffee.

Oh, that's right.

I tasted it once in a play when I was in a play.

No, I've never...

You just don't like it.

I love the smell of it. Yeah.

You probably would like it.

I probably would like it, but it's like,

at this stage, it's like why the hell not?

Did you do the Wordle today?

I didn't do the Wordle today.

I arrived at 1:00 AM.

I think my Wordle score would've been horrific.

No.

What was different about preparing

for this role than others?

Just the sheer amount of time.

So it's eight hours,

for those of you who aren't in the know.

It's a lot of acting.

I think I'm in probably about 90% of it.

I think maybe more. So much.

If you're looking to see my face, look no further.

Look no further. Look no further.

[both laughing]

Okay, pop quiz.

So wait, do I start with these ones?

Go ahead, you do it.

Recognize this picture?

I do.

That's Uptown Girls, Ray in Uptown Girls.

[Andrew] Oh wow, great.

There it is.

Ray in Uptown Girls. That is so cute!

Yep, okay.

Do you remember which of your characters wore this?

Yeah, that's the priest of Fleabag.

Sure is.

Do you recognize, Dakota, what this is from?

That's from the Met Ball.

That's a Rodarte dress from the punk Met Ball.

Hot.

That's hot. Yeah.

What about these moments from the Baftas?

Do you recall which fellow Irishman you were posing with?

That was Brendan Behan.

No, that's Paul Mescal.

There's two.

Oh shit, there's two?

Mm-hm. Oh, one of them is...

Is one of them Cillian?

This one is Cillian and this one's Pauly.

Correct.

Okay, New York or LA?

LA.

LA.

London or Dublin?

Dublin.

Morning or night?

Night.

Coffee or tea?

Neither.

Going out or staying in?

Going out! Yay!

Movies or TV shows?

Movies.

Vintage or modern?

Vintage.

Derry Girls or The Golden Girls?

Oh, that's pretty tough.

But I'm gonna have to say the Derry Girls.

Yeah, of course.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay, what attracted you to the role?

How did you approach transforming yourself into it

and making it feel unique to you?

Wow.

Well, the scripts, as you know, were completely wonderful.

And we had all the eight episodes ready at our disposal

right from the beginning, which is very unusual,

very lucky for actors.

But I love the...

You know, people talk about how monstrous he is,

how evil he is, how psychopathic he is.

But I feel like he's quite a vulnerable character.

I think there's loads of wit in there.

You know, he's not a natural born killer.

I feel like I'm always defending him.

I know, yeah.

He's not blood thirsty.

And I think what's really interesting is that

you just see this person who makes loads of mistakes.

He's not an expert, but he's very talented at other things.

And I just loved him as a character.

And I suppose I, apart from the murder,

I think he would be like a great husband.

[both laughing]

So what about Marge?

How did it feel bringing Marge to life

and what was it like being my rival?

Oh, loved it.

Loved every minute of it.

Me too, mate.

It was so great.

I loved playing Marge.

I loved playing Marge because she doesn't trust Tom

from the start.

And she's really the only character

that meets him at the beginning

and is still dealing with him at the end.

It was such a luxury to have such great scenes,

and I think you and I, by the end,

thought that maybe they actually liked each other.

I think they do-

They could be good friends in another life,

under other circumstances.

Under different circumstances.

If Marge and Tom had day jobs,

what do you think they would be?

Tom would probably be very good working like a tourist...

Like a tourist center.

No, maybe not with people.

He should work on his own, shouldn't he?

Yeah, probably.

Maybe just like he'd be a good artist, wouldn't he?

Or like he'd be a good gardener.

He'd come and do your garden.

Yeah.

What about Marjorie? I mean, she is a writer,

so she technically does have a day job.

She fancies herself a writer and a photographer.

I mean, I think I'll stick with that.

She has a proper...

She believes in that though.

You know, she believes in that.

I've read her work.

Yeah.

I've seen the pictures, the photography's...

Mwah.

Okay.

Did you steal anything from the set?

No, but you did.

I stole so many things.

You stole something for me.

Do you remember?

Oh, yes.

I did.

I stole it for you.

So it's not really stealing.

It's an act of generosity.

My theft was-

I was like, oh, I really like that thing.

And Andrew was like klepto.

It was like...

It appeared in my...

I was like...

Oh I did.

Oh my God.

See, I've gone...

See, this is why I'm so miscast.

I've gone red.

Have I gone red?

I've gone so red.

Oh my God, I'm gonna get in trouble.

What is your first on set memory?

So do we think that's from...

Childhood? Your life?

That's what I would've gone with.

Yeah, me too, that's what I first thought.

Well, we sort of started when we were kids,

but my first ever job was an ad for porridge.

And I had to be porridge, which I found disgusting.

And I remember I, with the money,

I got a bunk bed that had a wardrobe

and a desk underneath it.

You know, those bunk beds that you could climb up,

because it didn't have a bunk bed.

It had a wardrobe. Yes, yes.

You know, I just thought this is the coolest thing

I've ever had. Oh my God, how amazing.

It was a bit rickety though.

I felt like pretty unsafe in it.

Yeah. I think it was pretty cheap.

It wasn't a lot of money.

But that's my first. Oh my God.

Do you remember your first audition?

My first audition, the first thing I ever got,

was a Tide detergent commercial.

National Tide detergent commercial.

National.

And I auditioned and there was another girl there

and they were just asking us some questions,

and they asked the girl what she wanted for Christmas.

And my answer was that I wanted mechanical pencils.

That is so cute.

And I got the job and I think they told my mom

or told my agent that like,

that answer was so crazy. Unique!

And unique.

They were like, we just need to see this person

who wants mechanical pencils.

That was so glorious.

So I filmed the commercial and then at the end,

all of the people, I don't know, from Tide

or from, I don't...

The directors, the producers, the clients, whatever.

They gave me a massive bag of mechanical pencils.

Oh my God.

That is like core memory, right?

What's a dream project for you?

A dream project for me?

Well, something with my sister.

I'd like to act with my sister.

[Andrew] I wanna see that.

We've gotta do it, you know?

We have to.

What's your process for deciding if a role is right for you?

It's always about the writing for me.

I feel like you can't make a great TV show

or a great play or a great movie if the script isn't good.

Yeah.

What's the weirdest or funniest rumor

you've heard about yourself?

A rumor.

I don't think people care enough to spread a rumor about me.

A rumor?

It's not a rumor really,

but I think maybe people imagine

that I'm a little bit more serious than I am.

Yeah, me too.

Definitely, me too.

Yeah.

Do you have that?

I just feel like, they think, maybe 'cause of like,

you know, do plays or something.

I dunno.

Or serious, you know, like, whatever.

We made it.

Thank you for watching.

This has been Off The Cuff.

[melodic jazz music]