Behind every great actor, there is an equally great mom, supporting everything they do and being proud. Notice how virtually every actor thanks their mom in their Oscars speech?
Someone should give an award to Dakota and Elle Fanning's mother, though, because she supported no one but two child stars at the same time and managed to guide them through their early stardom into adulthood unscathed for the most part. That's a feat, especially when you realize that Heather Joy Arrington didn't even want her daughters to go into acting.
While Arrington has always done a lot to support Dakota and Elle and their careers as past and present, there is something she's not completely comfortable with; stardom. She's a very shy and private person. That's why we hardly ever see her accompanying her daughters on their red carpets. The Fanning sisters respect her wishes of privacy, though, and aren't too upset about it. They love her unconditionally.
Here's what we know about the behind-the-scenes supermom and her relationship with her famous daughters.
She Tried to Giver Her Daughters A Normal Childhood
Many times, moms of celebrity children are thought to be aggressive stage moms, but Arrington does not fall into that category.
Elle described her mother as very hard working and said she "sacrificed so much" moving the family to L.A. for "a child's dream." The Fanning's moved from Georgia to L.A. when Dakota's career was starting up. Elle wasn't far behind her big sister. "I had the luxury of knowing what I want to do because of her," Elle said of their mother's sacrifice.
Arrington knows a thing or two about chasing your dreams. She went to college on a tennis scholarship, and she later turned pro. Her father, Rick Arrington, was a quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. The Fanning sister's father, Steven Fanning, is also sporty; he played minor league baseball.
"I have the sports drive," Elle told The Guardian. "It's in my blood; I can't help it. Actors and athletes are similar, I think. You set a goal for yourself; you're ready for a challenge. You prepare for the match, or you're getting ready for the role. The adrenaline when you have a big scene to do is huge."
Arrington definitely encouraged sports. By the very young age of two, Dakota could play the sport without help from her pro mother, who expected her daughter would follow in her footsteps. But unfortunately for Arrington, Dakota caught the acting bug instead.
"I was being groomed to be a tennis player for sure," Dakota told The Scotsman. "My grandparents and parents realized I had a natural athletic ability, and if I was forced to do it, I could probably do well. But all I wanted was to play pretend."
If the girls were going to go off and pursue acting careers, then Arrington would make sure they had good old Southern manners while they did it. Elle said that if they ever misbehaved in front of someone else, Arrington would "embarrass us in front of them. Like, 'You interrupted, and I'm not answering your question,' you know?" The sisters knew the phrase "go back and apologize" very well.
If you've noticed, the sister's also don't go by their real names; they go by their middle names. Elle's first name is Mary, and Dakota's is Hannah. This wasn't a decision to protect her kids; Arrington also goes by her middle name. Elle said it might just be another Southern thing.
Soon Dakota's name was everywhere, though, and her career as a child star skyrocketed. She wowed everyone in her audition for I Am Sam, her first big role. Steven Speilberg once called her "an old soul," but that was due to the way her parents talked to her.
"My parents never talked to me like I was a kid," Dakota explained to The Scotsman. "Maybe that's why I've been seen as mature. ... I think I was a little bit scary. But you know, I was my mom's first child. She thought it was normal."
That maturity probably helped the Fanning sisters navigate more adult roles safely after successful careers in their youth. Having their Southern belle grandmother come live with them also probably helped ground them and remind them of their roots. She even homeschooled the girls when they were young.
Arrington Is Shy
Dakota told Town & Country that the Fanning family wasn't raised to "air your dirty laundry to people that aren't your family or your friends. Why would I ever want to portray myself as anything other than together?"
Arrington isn't just against airing dirty laundry, though. She's against the spotlight altogether only because she's really shy. "I dare you to find a picture of my mom on the Internet that's not a paparazzi photo of her walking with us," Elle said about her mother.
Surprisingly, Arrington took a step back from her daughter's careers. She supported them, of course, and did anything she could, but when it came to their work, "I don't think she wanted that pressure of feeling somehow involved. She was never our manager." So she's definitely the opposite of the biggest momager there is, Kris Jenner.
Sadly, some dirty laundry was aired, and Arrington's privacy was breached when People announced her divorce from Fanning in 2018. They divorced after 25 years of marriage, and the actresses made absolutely no comment about their parent's split.
Since then, though, the sisters enjoyed spending time with their mother and grandmother during the lockdown. "It's a rare occasion that we get to be together. So we're enjoying each other's company," Elle said.
It's great to know where the Fanning sisters got their drive. Arrington raised some really hard-working girls and must be so proud even if she is a little sad they didn't go into sports like she wanted them to.