Dakota Fanning

Dakota Fanning (born February 23, 1994, in Conyers, Georgia) is an American screen artist whose career has moved fluidly between major studio hits and distinctive independent projects. Also credited as Hannah Dakota Fanning, she earned early industry attention for the emotional precision and intelligence she brought to demanding roles—recognition that later expanded into high-profile film and television work.

Fanning broke out as a child actor with I Am Sam, where her performance as Lucy Diamond Dawson made her the youngest nominee in Screen Actors Guild history. She quickly became a familiar face in family and mainstream cinema, including The Cat in the Hat as Sally Walden and Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds as Rachel Ferrier, roles that helped cement her as a leading young talent.

As she grew into adult parts, Fanning pivoted toward darker, more mature material—most notably as Jane in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse—while continuing to explore varied formats, from documentary narration in In the Realms of the Unreal to voice work such as Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch. Across decades on screen, she has balanced mainstream visibility with creative range, earning nominations spanning the Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG Awards.