Elle Fanning Opens Up About Whether She Wants Children & Her Romantic Life, Playing Catherine the Great, Finding Her Voice & More in 'Harper's Bazaar' Interview

On preparing for her role as Catherine the Great in The Great:

“Before I stepped into her shoes, the only thing I knew about Catherine the Great was the rumor she’d had sex with a horse – which actually feels like one of the earliest forms of slut-shaming. So I wanted to reclaim her name a bit – to bring to the fore how progressive she was in championing science and female education, being an engine behind the Russian Enlightenment, separating church and state.”

“I still hear, ‘Catherine the Great? What a bad-ss!’ But I don’t know how accurate that is. She takes risks, but she has to work herself up to it. She’s powerful, but not always the most powerful person in the room. She can be both scheming and naïve. She’s a girl and a woman.”

Click through to see what else she had to say…