The actress Dakota Fanning seems like she’s been onscreen for longer than her 30 years. That’s because we’ve watched her grow up from her debut in I am Sam to more recently in the new Netflix series Ripley. But it was her role in 2005’s Dreamer that made her a horse-crazy little girl.
The film was inspired by a true story and follows a young girl (Fanning, then 11) who bonds with an injured racehorse that her father (played by Kurt Russell) trained and together they help the horse heal. Their strained relationship also heals along with the horse – a heartwarming story with a happy ending that continued past the shoot. Once filming wrapped, Russell gifted Fanning with a horse of her own.
In a video for Elle Magazine’s Ask Me Anything series, Fanning is asked by her Ripley costar Andrew Scott what was the best ‘wrap’ gift she ever received. “Kurt Russell gave me a horse,” Fanning admitted with a laugh. Scott, clearly surprised by her answer, teased, “That could be your autobiography [title]. … ‘Kurt Russell Gave Me a Horse: The Dakota Fanning Story.’”
The actress continued, “Kurt is one of the loveliest, most amazing people. You go through an experience together, and I loved working with him so much, and we made a movie about horses, and he gave me a horse.”
For his part, Russell told MTV in a 2005 interview that he asked Fanning’s parents for permission before buying the horse for the child star. Fanning was thrilled and named the palomino Goldie, partly because of his colour and partly after Russell’s longtime partner, movie star Goldie Hawn.
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