Dakota Fanning

Hannah Dakota Fanning (born February 23 1994) is an American child actress. Known professionally as Dakota Fanning, she is one of the first major stars among the youngest members of Generation Y, and is considered by film critics to be among the best child actors of her generation.

Biography

Early career

Dakota Fanning was born in Conyers, Georgia to Steven Fanning (a former baseball player who now works as an electronic salesman in Los Angeles) and Joy, who played tennis professionally. Her mother had wanted to name her "Hannah" and her father wanted to name her "Dakota"; she has always used Dakota among her friends and family. She has a sister, Elle, who is now also an actress. Dakota Fanning began acting at the age of five, after appearing with legendary musician Ray Charles in a television commercial for the Georgia State Lottery and being chosen for a Tide commercial. Her first significant acting job was a guest-starring role in the NBC prime-time drama, ER, which remains one of her favorite roles ("I played a car accident victim who has leukemia. I got to wear a neck brace and nose tubes for the two days I worked.")

Fanning subsequently had several guest roles on established television series, including Crime Scene Investigation, Friends, The Practice, Spin City and Malcolm in the Middle. She 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 I am Sam, the story of a mentally challenged man who fights for the custody of his daughter (played by Fanning). This role made Fanning the youngest person (in 2002, at age eight) ever to be nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award, for her supporting performance. When she won the Best Young Actor/Actress award from the Broadcast Film Critics Association for the film, she was too short to reach the microphone; presenter Orlando Bloom held her up for the duration of her acceptance speech (which turned out to be quite long).

2002–2003

In 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 Hansel & Gretel.

Fanning was featured even more prominently in two films released in 2003: Playing the uptight child to Brittany Murphy's immature nanny in Uptown Girls, and one of two children "babysat" by Mike Myers as The Cat in the Hat. She appeared on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno on November 10 2003, where she declared that she and her sister share a room, and described The Cat in the Hat co-star Mike Myers as "very funny."

Fanning has done voice-over work for five animated projects: As Satsuki in Disney's English language release of My Neighbor Totoro, as Lilo (succeeding Daveigh Chase) in the direct-to-video film Stitch Has a Glitch, as Kim Possible in preschool in the Disney Channel series Kim Possible, as a little girl in the Fox series Family Guy, and as young Wonder Woman in Cartoon Network's Justice League.

2004–present

In 2004, Fanning appeared in Man on Fire as Pita, a nine-year-old who wins over the heart of the retired assassin (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." Hide and Seek, was her first release in 2005, opposite Robert De Niro. Though the film was generally panned, critic Chuck Wilson called it "a fascinating meeting of equals—if the child star challenged the master [De Niro to a game of stare-down, the legend might very well blink first." She also had a small part in the Rodrigo Garcia 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: "She's definitely an old soul. She's one of those gifted people that come along every now and then."

Fanning completed filming on Inspired by a True Story (opposite Kurt Russell) in late October 2004. She then went directly to the set of War of the Worlds, starring alongside Tom Cruise. Released in reverse order (War in June of 2005 and Dreamer in the following October), both films were critical successes.War director Steven Spielberg marveled at "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 ...." Both films were made by DreamWorks.

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. The film is slated for release in December 2006. As of February 2006, Fanning is slated to appear in Coraline, which was announced in October 2005 and for which she will provide voice work.

Personal life

During an E! televised event, celebrity-mocking comedian Kathy Griffin invented a rumor that the 11-year-old Fanning had entered rehab. Griffin explained the incident as a joke designed to mock other celebrities by eliciting pious "messages of hope", even when the subject was the most unlikely person she could think of to need such treatment.Griffin describes the incident in her show Kathy Griffin: Strong Black Woman (2006).

Fanning is a member of the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation. In 2006, she was presented with the foundation's Heart of Gold award "for her enthusiastic dedication to helping others at such an early age".Starlight.org A Stellar Night (2006). She is also member of the American Red Cross Celebrity Cabinet.Redcross.org Nine New Stars Join Red Cross Celebrity Cabinet (2004).

Fanning is an avid reader, and includes among her hobbies biking, swimming, and drawing her own Wacky Packages.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Other notes
2007	Coraline	Coraline	Voice only Pre-production
2006	The Secret Life of Bees	Lily Owens	Announced
	Hounddog	Lewellen	Filming
	Charlotte's Web	Fern	Post-production
2005	Inspired by a True Story	Cale Crane
	Nine Lives	Maria
	War of the Worlds	Rachel Ferrier
	Hide and Seek	Emily Callaway
	Stitch Has a Glitch	Lilo Pelekai	Voice only Direct-to-video
	My Neighbor Totoro	Satsuki Kusakabe	Voice only English language re-release
2004	Man on Fire	Pita Ramos
2003	The Cat in the Hat	Sally
2003	Uptown Girls	Lorraine "Ray" Schleine
2002	Taken (TV)	Allison "Allie" Clarke/Keys	Miniseries
	Hansel and Gretel	Katie
	Sweet Home Alabama	Melanie (as a child)
	Trapped	Abigail Jennings
2001	I am Sam	Lucy Diamond Dawson
	Father Xmas	Clairee	20-minute short subject

Awards

Fanning has won and been nominated for numerous awards; a full list is available at the IMDB.

References

Footnotes

External links

List of fan sites at Yahoo! Directory

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