Dakota Fanning and Michelle Pfeiffer appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show to promote The First Lady on Showtime. Michelle plays Betty Ford and Dakota plays her daughter Susan Ford. I hope you all haven’t been dissuaded to try the show by the hype over Viola Davis’ pursed-lipped performance. Honestly, I think it’s my favorite show on TV right now. It’s definitely the one I look forward to the most. Viola’s Michelle may not be what everyone wanted, but what they’re doing with these stories and the cast – especially Michelle and Dakota – is extraordinary.
While on Kelly’s show they got sidetracked by a visiting puppy (who wouldn’t?). The dog’s offstage presence prompted Kelly to ask if either Michelle or Dakota had dogs at home. Dakota told everyone that her pup, Lewellen, had passed away. Lewellen was Dakota’s first dog and she’s still in mourning. To honor her precious pet, she wears a nameplate necklace and has Lewellen’s hair in a locket. Dakota referred to her chest as a “walking shrine” to Lewellen.
Dakota Fanning has a unique way of remembering her late dog, Lewellen.
During an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, the Alienist actress, 28, revealed she wears a gold pendant filled with Lewellen’s fur to always keep her memory close.
“So I have her with me,” Fanning shared with host Kelly Clarkson and fellow guest Michelle Pfeiffer.
Clarkson and Pfeiffer also gushed over a sweet photo of Lewellen shared on Fanning’s Instagram back in 2016. In the shot, Lewellen sits in an armchair, her fluffy white fur tied up into a Whoville-style ponytail on top of her head.
“She was the best,” Fanning recalled.
Though Clarkson called Fanning’s dog-hair necklace “creepy and beautiful,” she shared she couldn’t relate more.
“People don’t get it!” Clarkson said about the intensity of losing a favorite pet. “I have kids too, and I’m telling you, [the pets] are like a part of my family. When one of my dogs died, I thought I was going to die myself.”
I couldn’t totally make it out but Dakota’s locket looks like the fur is encased in resin. I might like something like that. I have my little dog’s tag on my bulletin board next to me so I can see it while I’m at my desk. I have a photo of my first two cats – my first pets of my own – that sit above me. They’ve been gone for almost two decades and I still feel it. I don’t find the Lewellen locket creepy, but some might. In these cases, I tend to side with the person in mourning, whatever they need to process their grief. I kind of love that Dakota is literally wearing her love for her dog out in the open. I scoured her Instagram to get an idea of when Lewellen left us. The last shot I saw was in 2017. That was with another little black pug who has also appeared once more on Dakota’s IG. So I don’t know if the pug is Dakota’s and if the pug is still with us. It’s darling, whatever its story is.
Dakota and Michelle also discussed how The First Lady marked the 20th anniversary of their first project together, I Am Sam. That was Dakota’s first movie at the age of seven. Both Dakota and Michelle are very good actors, but even so, their chemistry as the Ford ladies is fantastic. Michelle said she’d formed maternal feelings for Dakota and her sister Elle 20 years ago and it shows on this project. She also said she bought Dakota a Barbie Winnebago for her birthday while they were working on I Am Sam. Maybe she’ll get her a puppy when The First Lady wraps?
Here’s the clip. They talk about the locket at the beginning (0:22):
Photo credit: Instagram and Avalon Red
This made me wish commemorative stuff like this was around when I lost my first cats. I’d love to have a resin fur necklace or paw print or something instead of just a few 90s era photos (the quality!)
I imagine as well in the acting world, pets are one of the few things around you that aren’t after something, judging you or gossiping about you so her pup must have been a real comfort and best friend. Totally understand wanting to keep that memory close to the heart!
I’ve zoomed in on the pic of her necklaces, trying to see how she’s memorialized Lewellen with a lock of her hair, and honestly can’t make it out. But her necklaces look very pretty. Anyway, I don’t find it creepy. As I type this with one finger, I have Fiona curled up on my lap (and arm) and Fergus snuggled against my side. When I lose one of them, my heart will be crushed. I’m now looking them over to see where I should snip off a bit of hair ……….
I have a little clear claw shaped urn necklace with my kitty’s ashes and fur in it. I was with him when he died and I feel like he’s always with me. I rarely wear it now, but at the time it was comforting. My friend got her cat’s paw print tattooed on her wrist. It’s a beautiful way to honor them.
I have snippets of my doggies’ fur. Even though they are gone, I still have a part of them.
This is really sweet!
I have my Olive Bean’s paw print as a tattoo. As my other dogs go, I will be adding their prints as well. Thankfully they’re all small breeds!
That’s my plan too! I lost my dog in Dec but made a print a few weeks prior when her health was declining and I’m so glad I did. I went ahead and did my other dog at the same time and will be getting them inked together.
I got tattooed with my cat’s ashes mixed into the ink. The tattoo itself is a little line drawing of my cat that a friend drew for me.
In love with that yellow print chair!!
I love this and that she shared it with the audience. Pet loss grief is something so universal that so many of us feel strongly, but it can also feel lonely because it’s never talked about how others’ cope with it. Society just kinda expects people to move on right away and it can be such an immense pain.
I have adored all my dogs over many years. We often make a small cast of their paws by pouring plaster into a imprint they make in the mud (so it is reversed – their paw is raised rather than is recessed and it is very detailed). I have a couple of them displayed on small frame stands in the bookcase.
One of our dogs was famous for always being on the Cornell campus (partner taught there way back when) that there was a photo of her in their yearbook. We had her sign it – so her inked paw print is by her photo in the Cornell yearbook. lol……………..one of our very favorite memories.
Love hearing about the different ways people pay tribute to the unconditional love of their animal.
I’m here for the dog love.
I LOVE this so much. I lost my first furbaby a little over a year ago and I still mourn her. I cried for her last night. I had been thinking of getting a tattoo, but I don’t have any tattoos yet and I’m still on the fence about that. But I love necklaces. And I have some of her fur. This is the best idea ever
I love this. I’ve always liked Victorian hair brooches, and this seems to hold that idea but it a more subtle way. When our girl dog passed, we got a paw print made, and we printed and framed a lot of her photos. It does make me feel better to see reminders of her.
I regularly wear a small locket which contains a bit of my late cat’s fur.