Dakota Fanning Calls Dating 'Horrific'

— -- After splitting from her boyfriend of two years, Dakota Fanning is back on the dating scene. But that doesn't mean she likes it.

"I find dates, in general, horrific," the actress said in the October issue of Town & Country magazine.

"We have to sit there and ask these questions and pretend to eat a meal," Fanning continued, "and it just feels so stiff."

Fanning, 22, and British model Jamie Strachan reportedly parted ways earlier this year.

The former child star will be leaning on her friends to meet the right guy.

"The way I prefer to meet someone is through a friend," she said, noting that if she meets someone that way they're "most likely not a freak."

Perhaps because she's grown up on movie and television sets, the "American Pastoral" star said she's had the luxury of not being hit on at work.

"I've been lucky that I haven't had anything directly done to me. It's different when you're a kid," she explained. "People protect you from that."