Kristen & Dakota's Interview with Nylon Magazine

The duo tells us exactly what they think about Twilight fans and rock'n'roll fantasies.

The Runaways is about many things, but perhaps most importantly, it�s about the connection between Joan Jett and Cherie Currie, whose friendship boosted the band into short-lived stardom. Twenty-five years after they first jammed in a cramped trailer in the Valley, Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning�the duo who plays them in Floria Sigismondi�s debut film, out this Friday�are filling their platform shoes, both onscreen and off. We caught up with the duo to learn how they first bonded and whether we can expect a solo album anytime soon.

How did you get into character�especially when it came to singing and performing the songs?
Dakota Fanning: [Singing] was something that I was a little bit nervous about, something that I�ve always been self-conscious about. So I was really excited to do it, because I knew I couldn�t have done it any other way�I just would have felt weird about [lip-synching].
Kristen Stewart: Luckily I had Joan [Jett] on set every day. There�s a lot of stuff on the internet that you can look at, there�s a lot of photos, and there�s a little bit of footage, so we really did need Joan and Cherie there in order not to tell a completely superficial�I would feel like a little doll walking around with black hair, I wouldn�t feel like I was actually playing Joan.

I was just talking to Joan, and she was saying how similar you are in so many ways.
KS: I think she thinks we�re incredibly similar, because I just played her in a movie. It�s so funny, because when we see each other now, I�m pointing out the differences. I�m like, See, I don�t normally do that!

A writer described this film as �cautionary�; do you think of The Runaways in that way?
KS: I think the whole �cautionary tale� thing is really something that only older people look at this movie and say. It�s a success story on both sides; to see two people choose different paths, one of them being really successful, and the other just doing what she needed to do to be happy. [Cherie Currie] clearly knows herself fairly well, it was a really strong bold thing to give up something that you love. They needed to go through that or else they wouldn�t be who they were. It�s not a cautionary tale, it�s not like, �Ohhh�drugs are really scary, kids, don�t get famous and go crazy!� I really don�t think it�s about that at all. If it is, that�s the last thing I was thinking about.

Did you mine any experiences from your teenage years to tap into that angst and aggression?
KS: I have a lot of aggression, it wasn�t hard.
DF: I don�t think I can compare anything I went through to what Cherie went through.
KS: �Mom, I want to go. Please! �
DF: [Laughs] Yeah, I don�t think anything in my life has been as big as the things she�s gone through.

How do you think your fans will respond to your roles in this film?
DF: I think people will think it�s a lot different for me. But I hope people can�I think maybe �accept� is the wrong word�
KS: There are some people who do need to accept it from you, because so many people are like, �Oh, it�s just so weird, Dakota�s so young!� It�s like, Dakota�s the exact same age as Cherie [Currie] was, and there you go.

You have such great chemistry, both onscreen and off. What was it like the first time you met?
DF: We met a few times really briefly.
KS: It was kind of weird. The first few times we met, we were always going by each other, and I was like, This is a big deal, we�re meeting! And she was always like: [Blank stare and fake smile].

Now that you�ve played these music icons, do you have any rock�n�roll aspirations?
DF: Not in real life [laughs].
KS: I really love music, I love playing guitar, but I would have to change a lot in the next few years if I�m ever releasing an album. It�s going to be a very, very transformative few years.

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