Elle Fanning

Biography of Elle Fanning

Mary Elle Fanning was born on April 9, 1998 in Conyers, Georgia. She is an American actress.

Elle Fanning is the second daughter of Heather Joy Fanning (née Arrington) and Steve J. Fanning, her older sister is Dakota Fanning. She received her first name Mary from her father and her second name Elle from her mother. Because of her sister's continued success in auditions, the mother moved to Los Angeles with the siblings.

She started out with small roles in films and series such asCSI: Miami, House, Criminal Minds, Judging Amy and CSI: NY. After moving to Los Angeles, Elle also took part in castings and got her first film roles. Films like I Am Sam (2001), Taken (2002), Daddy Daycare (2003).

She played the role of Anna Miller in the miniseries The Lost Room, which aired in the US in December 2006. In movies she was seen in Babel and Déjà Vu. In 2008 she starred again in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button alongside Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt.

In 2007 she received her first leading role as Phoebe Lichten in the film Phoebe in Wonderland directed by Daniel Barnz. In 2009, Fanning starred in the 3D fantasy film The Nutcracker, for which she received a Best Actress nomination at the 2011 Young Artist Awards.

In 2010 she starred alongside Stephen Dorff as his daughter Cleo in Sofia Coppola's film Somewhere. In 2011, the film Super 8 by J.J. Abrams, in which she starred as Alice Dainard, was released. The film received mostly positive reviews and garnered Fanning a nomination at the 2012 Young Artist Awards for Best Actress and a Saturn Award for Best Young Actress. In 2014 she starred as Aurora in the fantasy film Maleficent alongside Angelina Jolie.

In 2017 she was accepted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars annually.

In 2019, Fanning was appointed to the competition jury at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival.