Dakota Fanning
Dakota Fanning (born
Hannah Dakota Fanning on
February 23 1994) is an
American child actress.
Early career
Dakota Fanning was born in
Conyers, Georgia to Steven Fanning (a former baseball player who now works as an electronics 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. Fanning is of half
German descent, and her last name is of
Irish origin.
She is a
Baptist, having grown up in the
Southern Baptist Convention.
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
,
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 impaired 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).
2002â€"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 did
voice-over work for four
animated projects during this period: As Satsuki in
Disney's
English language release of
My Neighbor Totoro, 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.
2004â€"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."
, 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 equalsâ€"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. 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 in a publicity still from War of the Worlds |
Fanning completed filming on
Dreamer: 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.
Fanning has most recently worked on the film
Hounddog, which has been described in press reports as a "dark story of abuse, violence and
Elvis Presley adulation in the rural South". Filming on the project, which also stars
Robin Wright Penn,
David Morse and
Piper Laurie, was briefly interrupted due to lack of funding by investors, who cited the film's controversial subject matter, including one already-filmed scene in which Fanning's character is raped. Fanning's agent has noted that the script is "challenging" to Fanning as an actress.
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.
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".
She is also member of the American Red Cross Celebrity Cabinet.
Fanning is an avid reader, and includes among her hobbies biking, swimming, and drawing her own
Wacky Packages.
She has been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Fanning has won and been nominated for numerous awards; a full list is available at the
IMDb.
Footnotes
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List of fan sites at Yahoo! Directory
