The New Year is looking bright for Dakota Fanning, as she’s kicking off 2012 with a cover appearance on the February issue of ELLE UK.

The “I Am Sam” hottie looks fabulous as she posed for photographer David Slijper while clad in a Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2012 dress (subscriber edition) and a baby blue Prada ensemble (newsstand edition) for the front pages of the magazine.

With the inside column hitting on topics including Dakota’s unwillingness to let outside perceptions influence her, as well as her younger sister Elle, highlights from Miss Fanning’s interview are as follows. For more, be sure to visit ELLE UK!

On her youthful age of 17-years-old:
“I feel like I’ve lived a long time, but then I realize, ‘Oh, I’m actually only 17.’ I don’t think there should be an age limit on an interest, do you know what I mean?”

On not wanting attention outside of her acting:
“I just want to be an actress. I don’t really do anything attention-grabbing. Famous just sounds so pretentious. Who am I to call myself that word?”

On not letting talk about her physical appearance affect her:
“People are always talking about this person who looks great and that person who doesn’t. It’s there, if you let it in. I let it in to an extent. I just don’t let it affect the choices I make.”

On her younger sister Elle:
“She is incredibly free-spirited and totally wears her heart on her sleeve, you know exactly what she is thinking by taking one look at her. She’s just incredibly… I don’t know, I wish I could be more like her sometimes.”

On not comparing herself with her sister:
“We see ourselves as to completely different entities. I mean, we don’t even look alike.”