Dakota Fanning

Fanning was born in Conyers, Georgia, to Heather Joy Arrington, a former professional tennis player, and Steven J. Fanning, who played minor league baseball before working as an electronics salesman. Her younger sister, Elle Fanning, also became an actress.

She attended a Montessori school in Covington, Georgia, and graduated from Campbell Hall School in Studio City, California. From 2011 to 2014, she studied women's studies at New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, focusing on the portrayal of women in film and culture. At Campbell Hall, she participated on the varsity spirit cheerleading squad and was twice voted homecoming queen.

Fanning began acting in small plays at the Towne Lake Arts Center at age five and started her professional career in a national Tide commercial. She subsequently appeared in television programs including ER, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Practice, and Spin City.

Her breakthrough came with I Am Sam (2001), in which she played Lucy Diamond Dawson opposite Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer. At seven, Fanning became the youngest person nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award, and she won the Critics' Choice Award for Best Young Performer. She followed the film with roles in Trapped, Sweet Home Alabama, Steven Spielberg's miniseries Taken, Uptown Girls, and The Cat in the Hat.

Her child-actor profile expanded through Man on Fire, Hide and Seek, War of the Worlds, Charlotte's Web, Coraline, and The Secret Life of Bees. In War of the Worlds, she played Rachel Ferrier, the daughter of Tom Cruise's character, while in Coraline she voiced Coraline Jones. At age 12, she became the youngest member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Fanning played Jane, a member of the Volturi Guard, in The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn: Part 2. She also portrayed Cherie Currie, the lead singer of the Runaways, in The Runaways (2010), and took leading roles in the dramas Now Is Good, The Motel Life, and Night Moves.

Her later film work included The Last of Robin Hood, Franny, Every Secret Thing, Brimstone, Ocean's 8, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Sweetness in the Belly, Viena and the Fantomes, The Watchers, and The Equalizer 3. She reunited with Denzel Washington in The Equalizer 3 after their earlier collaboration on Man on Fire.

In Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Fanning played Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme and was part of the film's cast nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award. Her television work includes The Alienist, The First Lady, The Perfect Couple, and the miniseries Ripley, in which she played Marge Sherwood and received major award nominations.

Fanning expanded her professional work beyond acting by serving as a producer on projects including The Nightingale, The Sun Never Sets, Mastermind: To Think Like a Killer, and Margo's Got Money Troubles. In 2021, she and Elle Fanning formed the production company Lewellen Pictures, which secured a first-look deal with MRC Television and Civic Center Media.

Fanning has discussed the difficulties of growing up in the entertainment industry. She has spoken about being asked inappropriate questions as a child and has emphasized treating younger actors as ordinary peers on set.