The real reason why Elle Fanning isn’t going to college next year makes TOTAL sense

The decision to go to college is a tough choice for anyone to make. But for Elle Fanning, an 18-year-old actress who started working before she was even in high school, the decision didn’t seem to be that tough of one to make. Since 2011, when Fanning appeared her breakout performance of Super 8, the actress has been steadily working and perfecting her craft. Most people go to college so they can prepare for their future career, or to figure out what they would like their career to be  but Fanning has been preparing for years.

So, it should really come as no surprise that the young actress is not following in her sister, Dakota Fanning’s foosteps and heading off to college, as Entertainment Tonight reports. Instead Fanning, who just turned 18 in April, will be pursuing the career she’s already got going for her, acting.

She explained herself to ET, “For this year, I’m not going at the moment because I’m starting a film and I don’t think it would be fair… I wouldn’t really be there. If I went, I would want to kind of have the college experience.”  

Who can blame her? That sounds like some pretty solid reasoning.

The actress already has a lot on her plate, so college doesn’t really seem that necessary right now.  Also, according to her ET interview, she may have a future in directing as she said when discussing the talents of Ben Affleck (they were co-stars in Live by Night), “I would love to direct one day, so for me, seeing that, I mean, he’s thinking like a mile-a-minute about everything. It’s pretty insane. So that was really, really cool to see.” 

The best course of action to do what Fanning wants to do when she grows up is probably to continue just what she’s doing now. Ben Affleck was an actor who eventually became a screenwriter, so the same thing could very possibly happen to Elle Fanning.

Maybe at some point college would make sense for Fanning’s future — there is something incredibly valuable to be gained from a college experience. But for now, she’s doing her thing and that’s great. We can’t wait to see what roles she’s in next!