Comprehensive information and links about Dakota Fanning

Dakota Fanning

Television

Fanning, born in Conyers, Georgia, to Steven and Joy Fanning, began her quick rise to stardom at age five, when she was chosen for a Tide commercial. Her first significant acting job was a guest-starring role in the NBC prime-time drama, , which remains one of her favorite characters ("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." [1]).

Several guest roles in established series would follow, including as young girls.

In 2002, Steven Spielberg gave Fanning the lead child role in the science fiction miniseries wrote that Fanning "has the perfect sort of otherworldly look about her, an enchanting young actress called upon ... to carry a great weight.". [2]

, the story of a mentally challenged man who fights for the custody of his daughter. 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, 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).

In 2002, Fanning appeared in three films: As a kidnap victim who is more than the crooks bargained for in .

Fanning was featured even more prominently in two films released in 2003: Playing the uptight child to Brittany Murphy's childish nanny in as Pita, a kidnapped nine-year-old who wins over the heart of a retired assassin (played by Denzel Washington). Fanning also won raves from critics: Roger Ebert wrote that Fanning "is a pro at only 10 years old, and creates a heart-winning character." [3] More critical praise followed , her first release in 2005, opposite Robert De Niro. Though the film was panned, 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." [4] She also had a small part in the Rodrigo Garcia film , in which she shared a nine-minute unbroken scene with 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."

, starring alongside Tom Cruise. Released in reverse order, both films were critical successes. Of Fanning's performance in , critic Kenneth Turan calls her "as good an actress as we have today. Fanning has a gift for naturalness and empathy that makes her the perfect audience surrogate." [5].

Again, she moved straight to another film without a break: In May, 2005, she finished filming with Julia Roberts in Australia. The film is slated for release in December, 2006.

As of mid-December, 2005, Dakota was listed in the credits of three films: , as well as auditioning for the part of Susie from Peter Jackson's film version of Alice Sebold's book

Voice work

Fanning has done voice-over work for five animated projects: As Satsuki in Disney's English-language release of

Trivia

Dakota Fanning's sister, Elle Fanning, is a budding actress. Elle began her career by playing younger versions of Dakota's characters in .

At age five, Dakota appeared with legendary musician Ray Charles in a television commercial for the Georgia State Lottery. [7]

Dakota appeared on on October 19, 2005, in which she demonstrated her technique for selling Girl Scout cookies.

Tony Scott, director of , had very similar things to say about Fanning. Says Scott: "The kid is extraordinary—not just in terms of her acting ability, just her instincts about moments in time." 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 ... pure, unadulterated honesty."

When opened in October, 2005, critics were not only impressed with her performance, but with the ability to headline her own film when it debuted at #2 at the box office.

Awards

Fanning has won and been nominated for numerous awards; an updated list is here.