"Why? Why?
Why?!?" the blonde shriekes, throwing herself on the sofa and burying her face in a pillow as she cried out. "Why am I being treated this way?"
'Maybe because you've always been an insufferable bitch?' her much put-upon personal assistant silently thinks as she rolls her eyes. Tirades like this happened three of four times a week, and she was very much over it.
However, Dakota couldn't care less what her assistant thought.
She was the most important person in the room, not some mere
employee. Sitting up, she flings the pillow across the room and pouts. "The stupid Shailene Woodley got the lead in
ALLEGIANT instead of me, and everybody knows I would have been perfect for that part. And that was after that dumb Abigail Breslin got
FINAL GIRL over me. And even my little sister, Elle,"...and she spits out her sibling's name with particular venom..."got the co-lead in
MALEFICENT over me!" And what jobs have I been getting? Voices for video games and English language versions of foreign cartoons, that's what!" She balls her fists and slams them down on the cushion of the sofa.
"
Why? Why can't Hollywood see that I'm the Meryl Streep of the 21st Century? Why must my genius go unappreciated?" she whines, this time casting a glare at her assistant, looking for some word of reassurance. In her head, the aide says,
'Again, the bitch thing', but she wisely strikes a more deferential tone in her response: "Producers are incredibly short-sighted...they usually don't know real talent when they see it. And also, even though you'll be 21 soon, Hollywood still seems to see you as a child actress. You need to change that impression."
Fanning pondered the advice for several minutes, and her assistant was thankful for the silence. Finally, in a matter-of-fact tone, Dakota says, "I know what needs to be done. I need to show Hollywood I'm not a child any longer."
"Brilliant, Ms. Fanning," the aide says with ano roll of her eyes.
Ignoring the other woman, Dakota continues, "The powerful in this town need to see me as grown up...sexy...sultry...but tough. And I know just how to do that. What was that invitation I turned down last year, the one from that dot com billionaire?"
"The celebrity catfight, Ms. Fanning."
"Yes, yes...that's perfect! I'll fight some other actress in front of an audience of producers and directors, beat her, and the Oscar-winning roles will come flowing in! You know, I've heard this is how Halle Berry made her career." With a grin of mischief upon her face and a malevolent glint in her eyes, Dakota rubs her hands together, savoring the thought of taking out her frustrations on some lesser talent.
For her part, the personal assistant was enjoying the mental vision of her diva boss getting her ass handed to her.
***
This being Dakota's first fight, it was decided to put her up against another first-time fighter, Sammi Hanratty. Arrangements were made, and soon the night for their confrontation had come...
Dakota Fanning
Sammi Hanratty
