Oh Lord, she's the best at being nine that I've ever seen. She is so wildly intelligent. I could eat up all the time in the world to speak about Dakota. Dakota is a ray of sunshine and obviously wise beyond her years. Her soul is so old and beautiful. She is so there and intuitive of other people. That's one of the attributes that makes her such a brilliant actress, her hyperawareness to other people's feelings and her openness. But aside from that, you could talk to her like your best girlfriend, but you can't forget she's nine. She is nine years old and she has the most adorable, hysterical sense of humor. She's as funny as the day is long. She's a giggle bunny and will do cartwheels with me. She's very much nine, but a very, very old soul. She's so intelligent.
Do you have anyone you model yourself after when it comes to physical comedy?
No. I was trained in dance. I could state the obvious, but I'm not going to. I was trained in dance and they always used to say , “She could dance circles around everyone and everything but she can't walk to save her life.” This whole physical comedy thing is far more me than a lot of other roles that I've played before. It's more truly me than the person that my family has to deal with, the klutz idiot.
Your character experiences a traumatic breakup in this movie. Do you have any breakup advice for your young fans?
Basically, I'm 25, so I'm not a wealth of knowledge. I've had four and a half boyfriends in my life and I've gone on two dates. I think the most important thing is to just learn. Learn why it didn't work and not allow that to happen again, and not give someone your power. As Lauryn Hill says in “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” definitely keep your own power in any relationship of any kind. Those can be some of the most growthful times, but don't give yourself away to anyone. You have to still keep yourself, which is also a really big message for ‘Molly Gunn.’ Her relationship with Neal, she gives and gives and gives of herself until she doesn't have anything left to give. Then it takes the most unlikely relationship with an eight-year-old to realize, “Wait a second, I have to trust my instincts, believe in myself, and be true to myself to actually be able to give the way I want to give in life and be the person I want to be. Be the balanced person that I'd like to be.” I think it's important. Self-preservation is quite important.
What do you have coming up next?
The next film I'm making is called “Little Black Book” and it's great. Nick Hurran is directing it. [He directed] “Plots with a View,” which is this Miramax film coming out. It's his first American film. But Nick Hurran, I call him Nick ‘The Man’ Hurran because he's a genius. It's costarring Holly Hunter and Kathy Bates and all these incredible people. It's a great ensemble. Ron Livingston plays my boyfriend. It's kind of thematically a mixture between “Broadcast News” and “My Best Friend's Wedding.” It's about basically embracing chaos. You can't avoid chaos and journalism and a girl who wants to be Diane Sawyer.
Did your research for that role give you more respect for journalists?
I never didn't have respect for journalists. I always had a wealth of respect for journalists. I don't know how you all do what you do. It actually really blows my mind.
