Elle Fanning Mary Elle Fanning is an American actress.
She is the younger sister of actress Dakota Fanning and mainly known for her starring
roles in Phoebe in Wonderland, Somewhere, and We Bought a Zoo. In 2011, Fanning starred
in her breakout role as Alice Dainard in J. J. Abrams' sci-fi-drama blockbuster, Super
8. For this role she received overwhelming critical acclaim and was often cited as one
of the film's best aspects. She received nominations for a Saturn Award, a Young Artist Award,
a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, a Teen Choice Award, a Scream Award, an MTV
Movie Award, and more including a special Spotlight Award at the Hollywood Film Festival.
Early life and education Fanning was born in Conyers, Georgia on April
9, 1998, the daughter of Heather Joy (née Arrington), who played tennis professionally,
and Steven J. Fanning, who played minor league baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals and
now works as an electronics salesman in Los Angeles. Her maternal grandfather is American
football player Rick Arrington, and her aunt is ESPN reporter Jill Arrington. Fanning is
the younger sister of Dakota Fanning, who is also an actress. Fanning has Irish, German,
English, and French ancestry. Fanning and her family are members of the Southern Baptist
Convention. She has been quoted as saying "We're just normal sisters. We both go to
school and we just play together." Fanning currently attends Campbell Hall School in
North Hollywood, Los Angeles, which was also attended by child actresses Ashley and Mary-Kate
Olsen. Career
Fanning started acting at the age of 2 years and 8 months. She began her acting career
by playing the younger version of her older sister Dakota's characters in the mini-series
Taken and the movie I Am Sam. In 2002, at the age of four, Fanning won her first role
independent of her sister in the comedy Daddy Day Care. Anecdotal evidence of her emerging
skill was seen in the decision to cast her in the role of Ruth in The Door in the Floor
(2004) opposite Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger. The film's producers originally planned to
hire identical twins for the intense shooting schedule, but were so impressed with Fanning
that they used only her. Late in 2003, Fanning appeared in Because of Winn-Dixie in the small
role of Sweetie Pie Thomas. In 2004, she did voice-work in the English dubbed version of
Miyazaki's animated film My Neighbor Totoro, in the role of Mei. Later that same year,
she filmed I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With. In early 2005, Fanning filmed scenes in Charlotte's
Web as the "future granddaughter" of Fern Arable played by Dakota Fanning. However,
the scenes didn't make the final cut. In mid-2005, she played Debbie, the daughter of Richard
and Susan Jones (played by Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett) in the Academy Award-winning film
Babel. In early 2006, Fanning filmed scenes in both The Nines and Déjà Vu. In mid-2006,
she filmed The Lost Room a sci-fi TV mini-series. Also in 2006, she appeared on the episode
"Need to Know" of House: MD, playing the patient's daughter.
By the end of 2006, Fanning began to book lead roles. The first of these was the one
of Emma Learner in Reservation Road—the grieving daughter of Grace and Ethan Learner.
The film deals with the aftermath of a tragic car accident in which Emma's brother is killed.
Late in 2008, Fanning had a small part in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as a younger
version of Cate Blanchett's character. Mid-year 2007, Fanning filmed the title role Phoebe
of Phoebe in Wonderland—the tale of a little girl who won't—or can't—follow the rules.
Phoebe in Wonderland also starred Felicity Huffman and was released in March 2009. From
July through October 2007, Fanning appeared in The Nutcracker in 3D, playing Mary. Set
in 1920's Vienna, this is a tale of a little girl whose godfather gives her a special doll
on Christmas Eve. The movie was filmed in Budapest, Hungary and was released late 2010.
In March 2008, Fanning and her sister Dakota were scheduled to star in My Sister's Keeper,
but the opportunity fell through when Dakota learned she would have to shave her head.
The sisters were immediately replaced by Abigail Breslin and Sofia Vassilieva.
Variety reported in April 2009 that Fanning would be starring in Academy Award-winning
screenwriter Sofia Coppola's new film, Somewhere. The plot centers around a "bad-boy" actor
who is forced to re-evaluate his life when his daughter, played by Fanning, arrives unexpectedly.
The film was released during the 2010 awards season. At its first film festival, the 67th
Venice Film Festival, it took out the Golden Lion. In late 2010, Fanning began working
on Francis Ford Coppola's new film Twixt, that Coppola wrote, based on a dream he had.
She plays the role of a young ghost named V. In 2011, Fanning starred in J. J. Abrams'
sci-fi-drama film Super 8 as Alice Dainard. The movie was released on June 10, 2011 and
centers around a group of kids who are forced to deal with strange happenings in their small
town. In December 2011, Fanning appeared in Cameron
Crowe's We Bought a Zoo. She played Lily, a thirteen-year-old who is working at the
zoo's restaurant, and lives on the property with her only parental figure, Kelly (Scarlett
Johansson). On September 2012, Fanning starred as Ginger along with Alice Englert who played
Rosa in the drama film Ginger & Rosa that took place during 1962 in London. The film
was directed by Sally Potter and was released on October 19, 2012. Fanning has received
widespread acclaim for her performance, with A. O. Scott of The New York Times writing
that she "shows a nearly Streepian mixture of poise, intensity and technical precision.
It is frightening how good she is and hard to imagine anything she could not do." Ty
Burr, film critic for The Boston Globe, praised her "luminous naturalism that seems the opposite
of performance" and felt that "Fanning easily convinces you of Ginger’s emotional reality."
Fanning has also been rumored to star as Martha in the screen-adoption of Kevin Henkes novel,
Olive's Ocean, which also happens to be the young star's favorite book. The film's producer,
Donald Rosenfeld, got the idea of making the book into a film after Fanning told Rosenfeld
that her favorite book was Olive's Ocean while on the set of her sister's new movie, Effie
(which Rosenfeld also produced.) Christina Hammonds Reed is writing the film's screenplay
while Rosenfeld will produce. There is no director for the film at the moment. Filming
of the new Walt Disney film directed by Robert Stromberg entitled Maleficent, which Fanning
will star in alongside Angelina Jolie, began on June 18, 2012, and post production started
October 5, 2012. The film was first scheduled for release on March 14, 2014, but later changed
to May 30, 2014. Jolie will play the role of Maleficent and Fanning will play Princess
Aurora. Awards and nominations