Dakota Fanning gets mistaken for one of the Olsen twins.

The 21-year-old actress - who starred alongside Tom Cruise in 'War Of The Worlds' - has revealed her neighbours in Manhattan, New York, confuse her for celebrity twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, 28, because of their strikingly similar physical traits.

She shared: ''There's a man on my corner who thinks I'm an Olsen. He'll yell, 'Hey Olsen!' at me. It's really funny.''

As well as pursuing her career as an actress, Dakota has also been studying part-time at New York University, where her major is Women In Film.

Dakota explained where the inspiration for her work came from, telling Nylon magazine: ''There aren't a lot of movies that are made for women - they always want to insert something so the guys will go.

''A director that I worked with, Naomi Foner, once said, 'Somebody decided a couple years ago that only 15-year-old boys go see movies.' There aren't a lot of stories told strictly from a woman's perspective.''

Meanwhile, Dakota - who turned 21 in February - is reported to have celebrated her birthday at a party in Las Vegas paid for by Steven Spielberg.

The filmmaker fulfilled a promise he made to the actress when they worked on 2005 movie 'The War of the Worlds' and footed the bill for the trip she took with her family.

A source said: ''Steven Spielberg had promised Dakota he'd pay for her trip to Vegas for her 21st birthday! It was something he promised when they filmed 'War of the Worlds'. Apparently they've kept in touch and he followed through with his promise.''