Dakota Fanning is awful

Her voice was a big part of the way she needed to play the character. I think it was supposed to reflect a certain insecurity and fear, with anger and pain lurking underneath...if that makes any sense. Lily is a character who doesn't trust a lot of people. She is strong deep down and wants desperately to stand up to her domineering father, but there's still a little girl inside of her who is terrified to do that. I think Dakota's performance really lets those things shine through. She does take her acting unbelievably seriously, which puts a lot of people off. After all, she's a teenager, and teenagers aren't supposed to be that mature and focused all the time, like she is. Her poise never seems to break, no matter what, and not everyone likes her. But if you really look at what she was able to do at only 15 years old--heck, if you look at what she's been able to do since she was 6--it's very impressive. A lot of child stars are good at hamming it up for the camera and being cute, but fewer are able to show true range. Dakota puts everything she has into every role and always wants to become the character as fully as possible. You have to admire her dedication to it.