Dakota Fanning Biography

Actor

Name at birth: Hannah Dakota Fanning

Child screen star Dakota Fanning's performance in 2001's I Am Sam (with Sean Penn) earned her critical praise and a cascade of high-profile movie roles. Preternaturally mature and adorable, Fanning has appeared in comedies such as Sweet Home, Alabama (2002, with Reese Witherspoon) and Uptown Girls (2003), in Steven Spielberg's TV mini-series Taken (2002) and his Tom Cruise version of War of the Worlds (2005) and in the live-action version of Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat (2003, with Mike Myers). As she got older she took on more mature roles, including Hounddog (2007), Coraline (2009, voicing the title character, based on the Neil Gaiman book) and Push (2009). Fanning's other films include Man on Fire (2004, starring Denzel Washington), Hide and Seek (2005, starring Robert DeNiro) and The Secret Life of Bees (2008, starring Queen Latifah).

Extra credit: Dakota's younger sister, Elle, is also an actress and has appeared with her in Taken, and I Am Sam.