Dakota Fanning Reveals the Sweet Lesson "Ray of Light" Brittany Murphy Taught Her

Dakota Fanning paid tribute to the late Brittany Murphy on Watch What Happens Live on Wednesday night. Watch the sweet moment.

By Jess Cohen Jul 16, 2020 2:28 PMTags
Brittany Murphy, Dakota FanningGregg DeGuire/WireImage

Dakota Fanning is paying tribute to her former co-star, the late Brittany Murphy.

As fans might recall, the stars worked together on the beloved 2003 movie, Uptown Girls, in which Murphy's character became the nanny to Fanning's character. Six years after the film's release, in Dec. 2009, Murphy passed away at the age of 32.

On Wednesday night, Fanning appeared on Watch What Happens Live and was asked to share the advice she had received from Murphy while working on the film together. "Oh man, she just taught me to always have fun," Fanning, 26, told host Andy Cohen. "She was such a ray of light and had such a playful spirit. So I think just...she made every day special for me. She was so wonderful."

While on WWHL, Fanning, who started working in the entertainment industry at a young age, also spoke out about more of her famous co-stars.

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Brittany Murphy's Biggest Roles

In a game of "Da-Gloat-A-Fanning," the actress was asked if Tom CruiseRobert De Niro or Denzel Washington gave off more of the "warm and fuzzy paternal vibes."

Fanning worked with Cruise in 2005's War of the Worlds, De Niro in 2005's Hide and Seek and Washington in 2004's Man on Fire.

"All in their own way," Fanning told Cohen, adding that she celebrated her birthday while filming with Cruise and De Niro and they went "above and beyond."

"It was when Cold Stone Creamery was just sort of a thing and Tom and Steven Spielberg, they like brought in the marble slab on set and had the people making the ice cream for my 11th birthday," Fanning gushed. "It was very fun."

Watch: Jaime Pressly Connects With Brittany Murphy

Take a look at the video above to see Fanning share stories about her former co-stars. Plus, see what she said about working on Friends!

(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)