Biography for
Elle Fanning (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

9 April 1998, Conyers, Georgia, USA

Birth Name

Mary Elle Fanning

Height

5' 7¾" (1.72 m)

Mini Biography

Mary Elle Fanning was born on the 9th of April 1998 in Conyers, Georgia, USA. Her step into stardom was when she was almost 3 years old when she played the younger version of her sister, Dakota Fanning, in the blockbuster I Am Sam (2001), as Lucy. 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 now 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).

IMDb Mini Biography By: Rachel Green

Trade Mark

Often plays more thoughtful characters, but with a great emotional range

Frequently played older characters in her pre-teen and early teenage years, because of her tall stature

Trivia

Younger sister of Dakota Fanning.

Enjoys playing soccer

Parents names are Joy Arrington Fanning and Steven Fanning.

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.

Learned the piano.

Is one of 14 grandchildren

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.

As a child, Elle played the role of newborn in her some of her big sister Dakota's projects.

To celebrate her seventh birthday, she went with her family to see Cirque du Soleil perform "Quidam" during its run in Melbourne, Australia.

When she attended her first Hollywood premiere, she was only three and a half years old.

Dressed up as Marilyn Monroe for Halloween.

Her grandmother spent $US600 at an auction buying her an old cream container that used to belong to Marilyn Monroe.

Niece of Jill Arrington. Granddaughter of Mary Jane Arrington and Rick Arrington.

Was submitted for Emmy consideration for her guest-starring role on "House M.D." (2004).

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.

Has naturally curly hair.

Was home-schooled by her grandmother, Mary Jane Arrington, until 2007.

Was ranked #19 alongside her sister, Dakota Fanning, on Entertainment Weekly's "30 Under 30" the actress list (2008).

Middle name is pronounced "El", as in the letter L, not "Ellie".

Is German/Irish.

Is near-sighted and uses contact lenses most of the time. But she loves collecting "nerdy" looking glasses.

She and her family are members of the Southern Baptist Convention.

She was only three and a half years old when she attended her first Hollywood premiere.

She has pictures of Marilyn Monroe in her room, and she also has a picture of Regis Philbin.

She loves to draw.

She and her sister Dakota Fanning love to watch Fear Factor.

When her sister, Dakota Fanning, appeared on Ellen DeGeneres' talk show, the whole family was gifted with a matching set of pajamas. Elle's pajama suit was blue and her name was written across the back.

During the filming of Phoebe in Wonderland, Patricia Clarkson bought her a bracelet that said 'LAUGH' at one of the teenagers store in the Hamptons, New York.

She started attending a private school in LA in 2007. She had previously been home schooled all her life.

She was spoofed by Avril Lavigne on Saturday Night Live.

She takes voice lessons, which has helped her through her roles in Phoebe in Wonderland and Nutcracker: The Untold Story. She also takes dancing lessons.

Although she started elementary school in 2007, she has never taken part in a school play. But she hopes she can try it out when she is in middle school.

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.

One of her favorite hobbies is horse riding, and she has her own horse. Her sister, Dakota Fanning, has a horse named Goldie.

She also takes after-school ballet classes, as well as hip-hop dancing and jazz. She met her dance instructor while working on Phoebe in Wonderland.

Apart from Dakota, Elle's favorite actresses are Jodie Foster and Meryl Streep.

She always wanted to act, but fancies singing, dancing and designing clothes.

She loves vintage clothes, especially clothes from the 1950's.

To bond before filming 'Somewhere', Elle's onscreen dad Stephen Dorff cheered her at a volleyball game at school and took her to Color Me Mine.

When she had to prepare for her ice skating scenes in 'Somewhere' she trained from 7:00 to 8:00 AM for six weeks.

In mid 2006 she had to wear glasses all the time, except at events and during filming.

She celebrated her seventh birthday in Australia.

She and her sister have a fear of thunderstorms and lightning.

She attended her first Couture Runway show at the age of 13 in Paris, where she saw the Chanel Couture extravaganza.

Age 13, Elle has been the face of Marc Jacobs and Rodarte.

Is also of English and French ancestry.

She likes to learn lines for her movies at night in the bathtub.

She is taking honors classes in Biology, Geometry and French II in her 9th grade.

Her favorite singer is Beyoncé Knowles.

Personal Quotes

Dakota [Fanning, her sister] is my favorite actress.

[on acting] "I love it. I just love how you get to be different people and have different names."

On being cast in The Door in the Floor (2004): "I'm glad they picked me to be Ruth."

On what her favorite scene in Daddy Day Care (2003) is: "Oh I guess jumping in the flowers, and the water scenes, 'cause we got to be in bathing suits and swim in the water, and in the water fountain."

On acting: "What's the best part of a movie? I love to know what my name is. It's just so fun. That's the first thing I ask. It's just fun because you have a different name in every movie."

Where Are They Now

(August 2006) Has finished her movie Babel (2006).

(July 2007) Filming Phoebe in Wonderland (2008).