Dakota Fanning says working with sister Elle on first film was 'wonderful'

Dakota Fanning has shared that acting opposite her sister Elle Fanning for the first time was as "wonderful as (she) expected".

The siblings have been planning to act in a project together for years, and they finally filmed their first joint movie, The Nightingale, earlier this year.

Reflecting on the experience in an interview with Deadline, Dakota shared that the shoot brought them back to their childhood.

"It really was such an adventure," she said. "And working with Elle was as wonderful as I expected. And any nerves that we had were gone within minutes of being on set together in our first scene. It felt like we were like little girls playing in our playroom again as we did our whole childhood. And it's just something we'll share forever."

The Nightingale, based on Kristin Hannah's novel of the same name, tells the story of two sisters struggling to survive throughout the German occupation of France during World War II.

While they had to film some dark, serious scenes, the Fannings also enjoyed some "beautiful sister moments" that Dakota, 32, will never forget.

"There's a lot of heavy themes that are unavoidable with the subject matter and so there are a lot of days that were difficult, but then there's some really beautiful sister moments that are very light. There's one particular scene and one particular shot of my sister and I, and it sort of encapsulated the whole process," she recalled. "It was really beautiful. I will remember that moment forever."

Elle, 28, previously told The Hollywood Reporter that the project was pushed back multiple times because they were destined to work together in spring 2026.

Predicting what the shoot would look like, the Sentimental Value star said in late 2025, "We have to get over it and treat each other as fellow actors. (We're going to have to get through a scene without) laughing or being like, 'Don't do that!'"

The Nightingale is due to be released in February 2027.

Dakota and Elle were nominated for Emmys on Wednesday for their respective TV shows, All Her Fault and Margo's Got Money Troubles.