Dakota Fanning - Dakota Fanning's Movie Life Lessons

Dakota Fanning took on her latest movie role so she could experience normal life.

The 16-year-old actress - who shot to fame aged just seven appearing in 'I Am Sam' - loved playing rocker Cherie Currie in 'The Runaways' because it give her the chance to act out a wilder side without damaging herself.

She explained: "I am getting older and I wanted to do something I hadn't done before. There are girls in the real world who are the same age as me and have already lived a very full life. Some come through it without a scratch - others get into a mess.

"I wanted to stand on the sidelines and see, from the perspective of my well-regulated life, what they go through without getting hurt."

One of the scenes in the biopic sees Dakota share a kiss with Kristen Stewart, who plays Cherie's bandmate Joan Jett.

The teenage actress insists there was no awkwardness around the intimate moment because she had grown so close to her co-star.

She said in an interview with the Daily Mail newspaper: "It was a kiss with my best friend, who happens to be a girl. We didn't agonise over it, we just did it. When you're close to someone, there's trust - we had no barriers. Afterwards we just walked away."

The 'Charlotte's Web' star admits some viewers may feel uncomfortable watching her racy scenes but she hopes it will make people realise she is no longer a child star.

She added: "I know some say I'm too young to do anything so intimate on screen but I've grown up a lot. The trouble is people cling to the image of me as a little girl, but they've got to realise that I'm almost an adult now."