biography of Elle Fanning

Mary Elle Fanning : 

 (born April 9, 1998)  is an American actress. Her works include both independent films and blockbusters, and her accolades include a National Board of Review Award, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and three Golden Globe Awards.

Fanning made her film debut as a child playing the younger version of her sister Dakota Fanning's character in the drama film I Am Sam (2001). After further roles as a child actress in Daddy Day Care (2003), Babel (2006), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Phoebe in Wonderland (both 2008), she gained recognition with leading roles in Sofia Coppola's drama Somewhere (2010). She then starred in J. J. Abrams' science fiction film Super 8 and Cameron Crowe's We Bought a Zoo (both 2011), before portraying Princess Aurora in the fantasy films Maleficent (2014) and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019).

Fanning received recognition for appearing predominately in independent films, including Sally Potter's Ginger & Rosa (2012), Nicolas Winding Refn's The Neon Demon (2016), Mike Mills' 20th Century Women (2016), and Coppola's The Beguiled (2017). For her portrayal of Catherine the Great in the Hulu period satire series The Great (2020–2023), she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. She then portrayed Michelle Carter in the Hulu limited series The Girl from Plainville (2022) and made her Broadway debut in the Branden Jacobs-Jenkins play Appropriate (2023). Fanning has since starred in James Mangold's biographical drama A Complete Unknown (2024) and Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value (2025). Her portrayal of Sylvie Russo in the former earned Fanning the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Fanning was born on April 9, 1998, in Conyers, Georgia, to Heather Joy (née Arrington) and Steven J. Fanning, who played for St. Louis Cardinals-affiliated minor league baseball teams.^[3][4]

Her maternal grandfather was American football player Rick Arrington, and her aunt is ESPN reporter Jill Arrington. Counted among the Arrington family's most notable ancestors is the gentleman farmer William Farrar. Fanning is actress Dakota Fanning’s younger sister. She and her sister use their middle names as given names per family tradition. They were brought up in the Southern Baptist denomination. 

Fanning is a 2016 graduate of Campbell Hall School.

Mini bio : 

Mary Elle Fanning was born on the 9th of April 1998 in Conyers, Georgia, USA, to Heather Joy (Arrington) and Steven J. Fanning. Her mother played professional tennis, and her father, now an electronics salesman, played minor league baseball. She is of German, Irish, English, French, and Channel Islander descent.

Elle's ascent into stardom began when she was almost three years old, when she played the younger version of her sister, Dakota Fanning's, character Lucy in the drama film I Am Sam (2001). She then played younger Dakota again in Taken (2002) as Allie, age 3. But her first big independent movie without her sister was in 2003's Daddy Day Care (2003) as Jamie. She then had two guest appearances on Judging Amy (1999) and CSI: Miami (2002).

Elle was becoming more successful and she got another role, in 2004's The Door in the Floor (2004) with Kim Basinger. Her career kept improving, as she had two movies in 2005, Because of Winn-Dixie (2005) and I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (2006).

From 2018 to 2023, Fanning was in a relationship with English actor Max Minghella. 

Per several sources, she has been in a relationship with Rolling Stone CEO Gus Wenner since late 2023. They made their red carpet debut at the Golden Globe Awards in January 2024. The two have been spotted at multiple events, including the Met Gala and private after-parties

She has since starred in a number of prominent films, including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), Super 8 (2011), We Bought a Zoo (2011), and Maleficent (2014).

trivia :

• At ages 11-12 she had an intense growth spurt, where she grew seven inches in a year and a half.
• She was only three and a half years old when she attended her first Hollywood premiere.
• Her mom named her Mary and her dad named her Elle, so her name is Mary Elle Fanning. Like her older sister, Dakota Fanning, she uses her middle name instead of her first name.
• Is near-sighted and uses contact lenses most of the time. But she loves collecting "nerdy" looking glasses.
• At age 12 she grew taller than her older sister by 4 years, Dakota Fanning.
• She had to miss her senior prom to attend the premiere of The Neon Demon (2016) at the Cannes Film Festival. Her date flew out to Cannes to recreate their prom at the red carpet.
• Her favorite actresses are Meryl Streep, Jodie Foster, Marion Cotillard, and her older sister Dakota Fanning.
• To bond before filming Somewhere (2010), Elle's onscreen father, Stephen Dorff, cheered her on at a volleyball game at her school and took her to Color Me Mine.
• She is the only actress to play a leading role in films by Francis Ford Coppola and his daughter Sofia Coppola.
• Is related to British royalty as she is the 22nd great-granddaughter of King Edward III, also making her Catherine Princess of Wales (aka Kate Middleton)'s distant cousin.
• Was ranked #19 alongside her sister, Dakota Fanning, on Entertainment Weekly's "30 Under 30" the actress list (2008).
• As a child, Elle played the role of newborn in her some of her big sister Dakota's projects.
• She and her sister have a fear of thunderstorms and lightning.
• Was home-schooled by her grandmother, Mary Jane Arrington, until 2007.
• Casting notes for the role of young Ruth Cole in The Door in the Floor (2004) originally called for identical twins, because producers believed the workload of the character to be too much for one little girl to take.
• She loves vintage clothes, especially clothes from the 1950's.
• She always wanted to act, but fancies singing, dancing and designing clothes.
• She likes to learn lines for her movies at night in the bathtub.
• Younger sister of Dakota Fanning.
• Having previously been home-schooled, Elle began attending Campbell Hall School in Los Angeles in the 4th grade, in Fall 2007. She will graduate in June 2016.
• She says that she likes roles which are challenging and different. She decides on her next roles with her mother, but in the end, it always comes down to Elle's opinion.
• She takes voice lessons, which has helped her through her roles in Phoebe in Wonderland (2008) and The Nutcracker: The Untold Story (2010) (aka Nutcracker: The Untold Story). She also takes dancing lessons.
• She was submitted for consideration for a Primetime Emmy nomination for her guest-starring role in the episode Need to Know (2006). She was also submitted for consideration for a BAFTA nomination for her supporting role in Super 8 (2011).
• She donated a signed picture to Rocky Stone to be given away as a prize in a Dakota Fanning contest to benefit less-fortunate kids as part of the Toy Mountain Campaign 2006.
• She was initially cast to play Sophie Gray in Effie Gray (2014), which had her real life sister Dakota Fanning in the title role. But Elle had to be recast later, because she grew a few inches taller than her older sister.

  Career : 

  Fanning started acting before turning 3 years old.  She began her acting career by starring as the younger versions of her older sister Dakota's characters in the miniseries Taken and the film I Am Sam. In 2002, at the age of 4, Fanning won her first role independent of her sister in the comedy Daddy Day Care. She was cast for 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 performed the voiceover role of Mei in the English-dubbed version of Hayao Miyazaki's animated film My Neighbor Totoro opposite her sister Dakota Fanning, who voiced Satsuki, the older sister to Elle's character. 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. The scenes did not 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 film Babel. In early 2006, Fanning filmed scenes in both The Nines and Déjà Vu. In mid-2006, she filmed The Lost Room, a science-fiction TV miniseries. Also in 2006, she appeared on the episode "Need to Know" of House: MD, playing the patient's daughter. She appeared in an episode of Criminal Minds in 2006, playing the supporting role of Tracey in "The Boogeyman". By the end of 2006, Fanning began to book lead roles.  In the first of these she played 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.

  In early 2007, Fanning reunited with her Babel co-stars, Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, in a small part in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as the younger version of Blanchett's character. Mid-year 2007, Fanning filmed the title role Phoebe of Phoebe in Wonderland, which also starred Felicity Huffman and was released in March 2009. From July through October 2007, Fanning appeared in The Nutcracker in 3D, playing Mary. It was released in 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 replaced by Abigail Breslin and Sofia Vassilieva. 

  Variety reported in April 2009 that Fanning would be starring in screenwriter Sofia Coppola's 2010 film Somewhere. The plot centers around a "bad-boy"^{[clarification needed]} 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 the Golden Lion.In late 2010, Fanning began working on Francis Ford Coppola's 2011 film Twixt, which Coppola based on a dream. She played the role of a young ghost named "V". In 2011, Fanning starred in J. J. Abrams' science-fiction drama film Super 8 as Alice Dainard. The film was released on June 10, 2011, and centers around a group of children who are forced to deal with strange happenings in their small town.  The Telegraph cited Fanning as one of the film's best aspects and she received a Spotlight Award at the Hollywood Film Festival. 

  In December 2011, Fanning appeared in Cameron Crowe's We Bought a Zoo. She played Lily, a 13-year-old who is working at the zoo's restaurant and lives on the property with her only parental figure, Kelly (Scarlett Johansson). In 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." 

  2014–2019: International recognition

  Fanning starred alongside Angelina Jolie in the 2014 Walt Disney film Maleficent, directed by Robert Stromberg. Jolie played Maleficent, while Fanning played Princess Aurora, the Sleeping Beauty.^[27] The same year, she appeared in the independent science-fiction Western Young Ones and starred in the biographical Low Down, about the life of jazz pianist Joe Albany, in which she plays the role of Albany's daughter, Amy-Jo, from whose perspective the story is told. In 2015, Fanning co-starred in Jay Roach's Trumbo as Dalton Trumbo's (Bryan Cranston) daughter Nikola, and starred in 3 Generations (previously known as About Ray), alongside Naomi Watts and Susan Sarandon, playing the role of a young transgender man.

  In 2016, she appeared as Jesse in the psychological thriller The Neon Demon, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. The film had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2016. It was released on June 24, 2016, and did poorly at the box office That same year, she appeared in Mike Mills's 20th Century Women, opposite Greta Gerwig and Annette Bening.  The film had its world premiere at the New York Film Festival on October 8, 2016, and began a limited release on December 28, 2016.  She then co-starred in Ben Affleck's Prohibition-era drama Live by Night, which was released on December 25, 2016.

  Movie Career

  Elle Fanning started acting from a very young age; she made her feature film debut with I Am Sam (2001) when she was just three years old. The actress portrayed the role of `Lucy Diamond Dawson,` the younger version of Dakota Fanning`s character in the film. The film featuring Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer and Diane West in the lead roles received negative to mixed reviews but it emerged to be a box office hit. Post her debut film appearance, director Steve Carr cast Fanning alongside Eddie Murphy, Jeff Garlin, Steve Zahn and Regina King in the American comedy film Daddy Day Care. The film, which was based on the lives of two men who start a day care center after being laid off received negative critical reviews but it emerged to be a commercial hit; it grossed about 164.4 million USD.
  
  In 2004, the actress starred in the Tod Williams directed American drama film, The Door in the Floor, which was based on the 1998 novel, A Widow for One Year by John Irving. The film featuring Jeff Bridges, Kim Basinger, Jon Foster and Bijou Phillips in the lead roles received wide critical appreciation, with Peter Travers, a film critic from Rolling Stone stating, "It is an extraordinary film in every way, from the pitch-perfect performance to the delicate handling of explosive subject matter."
  
  With no significant release to her name in 2005, the actress starred in the American drama Babel directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. The film, which was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival was selected to compete for the Palme d`Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006. After its theatrical release, the film not only won wide critical acclaim but also won several awards including the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama. Following the success of Babel, Fanning appeared in films like I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (2006), Reservation Road (2007) and The Nines (2007).
  
  After working for almost seven years in supporting or smaller roles, Elle Fanning made her debut as the lead actress in the 2008 film Phoebe in Wonderland, which eventually became one of the most successful films of her career. The independent film directed by Daniel Barnz and co-starring Felicity Huffman, Patricia Clarkson, Bill Pullman and Campbell Scott was screened at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. She rounded off the year with yet another hit, the American romantic fantasy film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which was directed by the stalwart director David Fincher. The film starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, and Tilda Swinton received 13 Academy Award nominations and won three of them for Best Makeup, Best Visual Effects and Best Direction.
  
  In 2009, the actress made her debut as a voice artist in the Hong Kong - American animated action-comedy film Astro Boy, which was loosely based on the manga series of the same name by the Japanese writer Osamu Tezuka. The film, despite having an ensemble cast including Freddie Highmore, Kristen Bell, Eugene Levy, Nathan Lane, Nicolas Cage, Charlize Theron and Matt Lucas failed at the box office. From 2010 to 2014, the actress had 10 films including The Nutcracker in 3D (2010), Super 8 (2011), We Bought a Zoo (2011), Young Ones (2014), Maleficent (2014), and The Boxtrolls (2014). The actress had two releases in 2015, first of which was the Gaby Dellal directed American drama film, About Ray co-starring Naomi Watts, Susan Sarandon, Tate Donovan and Linda Emond and Trumbo, an American biographical dram film directed by Jay Roach. Whilst the former did not garner any attention, the latter got positive critical reviews.
  
  Elle Fanning had quite a busy year in 2016 as she had four releases, namely The Neon Demon, 20th Century Women, Ballerina and Live by Night. Whilst 20th Century Women and Ballerina got mixed to positive reviews, the other two received mixed to negative reviews. The actress` 2017 releases include Sidney Hall, an American drama film directed by Shawn Christensen and How to Talk to Girls at Parties, a British-American sci-fi romantic-comedy film co-starring Nicole Kidman, Alex Sharp and Ruth Wilson. Her 2019 releases include the sequel to the 2014 film, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.
  
  TV Career
  Elle Fanning started acting in TV series when was a kid; in her maiden TV appearance she played the role of Allie Keys in one of the episodes of science fiction miniseries Taken in 2002. The actress was just three years old when she bagged the role. The following year, Fanning starred in single episodes of two TV series, Judging Amy and CSI: MIAMI. Her most prominent role in a TV series came in 2006 when she starred in the popular American crime drama series, Criminal Minds featuring Many Patinkin, Thomas Gibson, Lola Glaudini and Shemar Moore in the lead roles.

  sourse : wikipedia ........... imdb