Dakota Fanning Biography

Name:Hannah Dakota Fanning

Date of Birth:February 23, 1994

Place of Birth:Conyers, Georgia, U.S

Hannah Dakota Fanning better known as Dakota Fanning, is an American actress. Fanning's breakthrough performance was in I Am Sam in 2001. As a child actress, she appeared in high-profile films such as Man on Fire, War of the Worlds, and Charlotte's Web. Fanning began the transition to more adult roles with Hounddog and The Secret Life of Bees. Recent films have included The Twilight Saga, the fantasy/horror animated children's movie Coraline and The Runaways. Dakota Fanning has won numerous awards and is the youngest nominee for a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Early and Personal Life

Fanning was born in Conyers, Georgia. Dakota Fanning mother, Heather Joy (née Arrington), played tennis professionally, and her father, Steven J. Fanning, played minor league baseball, and works as an electronics salesman in Los Angeles. Dakota Fanning maternal grandfather was former American football player, Rick Arrington, and her aunt is former ESPN reporter Jill Arrington.Dakota is the elder sister of Elle Fanning, also an actress.

Fanning has German (from her paternal grandmother), Irish, and English ancestry. Dakota Fanning and her family are Southern Baptist. In June 2011, she graduated from Campbell Hall School in North Hollywood, California, where she participated on the varsity spirit cheerleading squad and was voted homecoming queen. As of September 2011, she attends New York University.

Acting Career

Early years

Fanning began acting at the age of five after appearing on a Tide commercial. Dakota Fanning first significant acting job was a guest role in the NBC prime-time drama ER, which remains one of her favorite roles ("I played a kidnapping victim who has leukemia. I got to wear nose tubes for the two days I worked.").

Fanning subsequently had several guest roles on established television series, including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Practice, and Spin City. Dakota Fanning also portrayed the title characters of Ally McBeal and The Ellen Show as young girls. In 2001, Fanning was chosen to star opposite Sean Penn in the movie I Am Sam, the story of a mentally challenged man who fights for the custody of his daughter (played by Fanning).

Dakota Fanning role in the film made Fanning the youngest person ever to be nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award, being seven years of age at the time. Dakota Fanning also won the Best Young Actor/Actress award from the Broadcast Film Critics Association for her performance.

2002–2003In 2002, director Steven Spielberg cast Fanning in the lead child role of Allison "Allie" Clarke/Keys in the science fiction miniseries Taken. By this time, she had received positive notices by several film critics, including Tom Shales of The Washington Post, who wrote that Fanning "has the perfect sort of otherworldly look about her, an enchanting young actress called upon ... to carry a great weight."

In the same year, Fanning appeared in three films: as a kidnap victim who proves to be more than her abductors bargained for in Trapped, as the young version of Reese Witherspoon's character in Sweet Home Alabama, and as Katie in the movie Hansel and Gretel.

Fanning was featured even more prominently in two films released in 2003: playing the uptight child to an immature nanny played by Brittany Murphy in Uptown Girls and as Sally in The Cat in the Hat.

Fanning did voice-over work for four animated projects during this period, including voicing Satsuki in Disney's English language release of My Neighbor Totoro, a little girl in the Fox series Family Guy, and a young Wonder Woman in an episode of Cartoon Network's Justice League.

2004–2005 

Fanning at the London premiere of War of the Worlds, June 2005In 2004, Fanning appeared in Man on Fire as Pita, a nine-year-old who wins over the heart of a retired mercenary (Denzel Washington) hired to protect her from kidnappers. Roger Ebert wrote that Fanning "is a pro at only 10 years old, and creates a heart-winning character." Dakota Fanning was also the voice of Satsuki Kusakabe in the Disney re-dub of the 1988 Hayao Miyazaki animated film, My Neighbor Totoro.

Hide and Seek was her first release in 2005, opposite Robert De Niro. The film was generally panned, and critic Chuck Wilson called it "a fascinating meeting of equals – if the child star [Fanning] challenged the master [De Niro] to a game of stare-down, the legend might very well blink first."Fanning voiced Lilo (succeeding Daveigh Chase) in the direct-to-video film Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch. Dakota Fanning also had a small part in the Rodrigo García film Nine Lives (released in October 2005), in which she shared an unbroken nine-minute scene with actress Glenn Close, who had her own praise for Fanning: "Dakota Fanning's definitely an old soul. Dakota Fanning's one of those gifted people that come along every now and then." Fanning also recorded voice work for Coraline during this time.

Fanning completed filming on Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story (opposite Kurt Russell) in late October 2004. Russell declared he was astonished by his co-star's performance in the film. Russell, 54, who plays her father in the movie, says, "I guarantee you, (Dakota) is the best actress I will work with in my entire career." Kris Kristoffers on, who plays her character's grandfather in the movie, said that she's like Bette Davis reincarnated.

While promoting her role in Dreamer, Fanning became a registered member of Girl Scouts of the USA at a special ceremony, which was followed by a screening of the film for members of the Girl Scouts of the San Fernando Valley Council.

Dakota Fanning then went directly to the set of War of the Worlds, starring alongside Tom Cruise. Released in reverse order (War in June 2005 and Dreamer in the following October), both films were critical successes. War director Steven Spielberg praised "how quickly she understands the situation in a sequence, how quickly she sizes it up, measures it up and how she would really react in a real situation."

After filming was completed on War of the Worlds, Fanning moved straight to another film without a break: Charlotte's Web, which she finished filming in May 2005 in Australia. Producer Jordan Kerner said, "...when she was so caught up in War of the Worlds, we had to end up going on a search for other young actresses. They would have been nothing compared to her."

2006–2007 

Over the summer of 2006, Fanning worked on the film Hounddog, described in press reports as a "dark story of abuse, violence and Elvis Presley adulation in the rural South." Fanning's parents have been criticized for allowing her to film a scene in which her character is raped. However, in response, Fanning said that "It's not really happening," to Reuters. "It's a movie, and it's called acting."

In 2006, at the age of twelve, she was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, becoming the youngest member in the Academy's history.Dakota Fanning income for 2006 was $4 million, earning her the fourth place in Forbes Magazine's list of top-earning stars aged under 21.

In March and April 2007, she filmed Fragments – Winged Creatures alongside Kate Beckinsale, Guy Pearce, Josh Hutcherson, and Academy Award winners Forest Whitaker and Jennifer Hudson. Dakota Fanning plays Anne Hagen, a girl who witnesses her father's murder and who turns to religion in the aftermath.

In July 2007, Fanning filmed for three days a short film titled Cutlass, one of Glamour's "Reel Moments" based on readers' personal essays. Cutlass was directed by Kate Hudson.

From September to December 2007, Fanning filmed Push, which centers on a group of young American expatriates with telekinetic and clairvoyant abilities who hide from a U.S. government agency in Hong Kong and band together to try to escape the control of the division. Fanning played Cassie Holmes, a 13-year-old psychic.

2008–2009 In January 2008, Fanning began filming the movie adaptation of The Secret Life of Bees, a novel by Sue Monk Kidd. Set in South Carolina in 1964, the story centers on Lily Owens (Fanning), who escapes her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father by running away with her caregiver and only friend (played by Jennifer Hudson) to a South Carolina town where they are taken in by an eccentric trio of beekeeping sisters (played by Queen Latifah, Sophie Okonedo, and Alicia Keys). Dakota Fanning movies Coraline and Push were released on the same day, February 6, 2009.

Fanning played Jane, a member of the Volturi Guard, in New Moon and reprised the role in Eclipse, based on novels by Stephenie Meyer. New Moon was released on November 20, 2009, and Eclipse was released on June 30, 2010.

2010–present In 2010, she starred in the movie The Runaways, alongside Kristen Stewart, Stella Maeve, and Scout Taylor-Compton, where she played Cherie Currie, the lead singer of the band. In late 2010/early 2011, Fanning filmed Breaking Dawn, reprising the role of Jane.

Fanning was originally set to star as Mia, the lead role in the film adaption of If I Stay based on the novel, but later withdrew from the project.

In December 2010, it was announced that Fanning would not be filming any lead roles until after she finishes high school in 2011.

Fanning's voice was heard in Rise, a documentary film commissioned by U. S. Figure Skating to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the crash of Sabena Flight 548 which resulted in the loss of the entire American team and subsequent cancellation of the 1961 World Figure Skating Championships. Dakota Fanning read a poem written by national champion Laurence Owen (who died in the crash) that was said to be an eerie premonition of the afterlife.

Fanning will play Princess Margaret in the upcoming film Girls' Night Out. Dakota Fanning will play Annie James in "The Motel Life" in February. Dakota Fanning has also signed onto "Mississippi Wild", which will begin production in Atlanta on March 21, 2011 and will be released into theaters in 2012.

Dakota Fanning will play Tessa in Now Is Good. Fanning became the face of Marc Jacobs’ Oh, Lola! perfume campaign, but the ad was banned in the U.K. for being too racy.

Filmography/Television

2001 Father Xmas Clairee Short film 

Tomcats Little Girl in Park  

I Am Sam Lucy Diamond Dawson Dakota's younger sister, Elle Fanning, plays the younger version of Lucy

Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards for Best Young Actress

Satellite Award for Outstanding New Talent

Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Actress Age Ten or Under

Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Nominated - Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Performer 

2002 Taken Allie Keys Television miniseries

Elle Fanning plays the younger version of Allie

Nominated - Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie, Mini-Series or Special - Leading Young Actress

Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series 

Trapped Abigail Jennings, "Abbie"  

Sweet Home Alabama Young Melanie  

Hansel and Gretel Katie  

2003 Uptown Girls Lorraine Schleine, "Ray"  

Cat in the Hat, TheThe Cat in the Hat Sally Walden Nominated - Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Actress 

Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time Preschool Kim Voice 

2004 Man on Fire Lupita Martin Ramos, "Pita" Nominated - Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Young Actress

Nominated - Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actress 

My Neighbor Totoro Satsuki Kusakabe Voice (English Version) 

In the Realms of the Unreal Narrator Voice 

2005 Hide and Seek Emily Callaway MTV Movie Award for Best Frightened Performance 

Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch Lilo Voice 

Nine Lives Maria  

War of the Worlds Rachel Ferrier Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Young Actress

Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Young Actor

Nominated - Irish Film and Television Award for Best International Actress

Nominated - MTV Award for Best Frightened Performance 

Dreamer Cale Crane Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film (Comedy or Drama) - Leading Young Actress

Nominated - Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for Favorite Movie Actress 

2006 Charlotte's Web Fern Arable Elle Fanning plays Fern's granddaughter in alternate ending

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actress

Nominated - Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Young Actress

Nominated - Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actress 

2007 Hounddog Lewellen  

Cutlass Lacy Short film 

2008 Secret Life of Bees, TheThe Secret Life of Bees Lily Owens Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film (Comedy or Drama)- Leading Young Actress

Nominated - Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Young Actress 

2009 Coraline Coraline Jones Voice

Nominated - Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Voice-Over - Young Actor/Actress 

Push Cassie Holmes  

Fragments – Winged Creatures Anne Hagen  

Twilight Saga: New Moon, TheThe Twilight Saga: New Moon Jane  

2010 Runaways, TheThe Runaways Cherie Currie  

Twilight Saga: Eclipse, TheThe Twilight Saga: Eclipse Jane  

2011–2012 Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, TheThe Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Jane Post-production 

2012 The Motel Life Annie James Post-production 

Now Is Good Tessa Scott Post-production 

Effie Euphemia 'Effie' Gray Pre-production 

Mississippi Wild  Pre-production 

Very Good Girls Lauren Strode Pre-production 

Year Title Role Episode title 

Television appearances 2000 ER Delia Chadsey "The Fastest Year" 

2000 Ally McBeal Ally (5 years) "Ally McBeal: The Musical, Almost" 

2000 Strong Medicine Edie's Girl "Misconceptions" 

2000 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Brenda Collins "Blood Drops" 

2000 Practice, TheThe Practice Alessa Engel "The Deal" 

2000 Spin City Cindy "Toy Story" 

2001 Malcolm in the Middle Emily "New Neighbors" 

2001 Fighting Fitzgeralds, TheThe Fighting Fitzgeralds Marie "Pilot" 

2001 Family Guy Little girl "To Love and Die in Dixie" 

2001 Ellen Show, TheThe Ellen Show Young Ellen "Missing the Bus" 

2004 Justice League Unlimited Young Wonder Woman (voice) "Kids' Stuff" 

2004 Friends Mackenzie "The One with Princess Consuela" 

Awards and Nominations 

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (October 2009) 

Year Title of work Award Category Result 

List of awards and nominations 2001 I Am Sam Broadcast Film Critics Association Award Best Young Actress Won 

2002 I Am Sam Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award Youth in Film Won 

2002 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated 

2002 Satellite Award Outstanding New Talent Won 

2002 Chicago Film Critics Association Award Most Promising Performer Nominated 

2002 Young Artist Award Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Actress Age Ten or Under Won 

2003 Taken Young Artist Award Best Performance in a TV Movie, Mini-Series or Special – Leading Young Actress Nominated 

2003 Saturn Award Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series Nominated 

2004 Man on Fire Broadcast Film Critics Association Award Best Young Actress Nominated 

2004 Cat in the Hat, TheThe Cat in the Hat Young Artist Award Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actress Nominated 

2005 Man on Fire Young Artist Award Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actress Nominated 

2005 Nine Lives Gotham Award Best Ensemble Cast Nominated 

2005 Locarno International Film Festival Best Actress Won 

2005 Hide and Seek MTV Movie Award Best Frightened Performance Won 

2005 N/A Relly Awards Best Junior Achiever Won 

2005 War of the Worlds Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards Youth in Film Won 

2005 Irish Film and Television Award Best International Actress Nominated 

2005 Broadcast Film Critics Association Award Best Young Actress Won 

2006 War of the Worlds MTV Movie Award Best Frightened Performance Nominated 

2006 Saturn Award Best Performance by a Younger Actor Won 

2005 Dreamer Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards Favorite Movie Actress Nominated 

2005 Young Artist Award Best Performance in a Feature Film (Comedy or Drama) – Leading Young Actress Won 

2006 Charlotte's Web Broadcast Film Critics Association Award Best Young Actress Nominated 

2007 Charlotte's Web Young Artist Award Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actress Nominated 

2007 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards Favorite Movie Actress Won 

2008 Secret Life of Bees, TheThe Secret Life of Bees Black Reel Award Best Ensemble Cast Nominated 

2008 Broadcast Film Critics Association Award Best Young Actress Nominated 

2009 Secret Life of Bees, TheThe Secret Life of Bees Young Artist Award Best Performance in a Feature Film (Comedy or Drama) – Leading Young Actress Won 

2010 Coraline Young Artist Award Best Performance in a Voice-Over Role – Young Actor/Actress Nominated 

2010 Runaways, TheThe Runaways MTV Movie Award Best Kiss Nominated