1990s Fanning first acted at the Towne Lake Arts Center in
Woodstock, Georgia, starring in small plays at the age of five. In 1999, she began her professional acting career, appearing in a
Tide television commercial. Her first significant acting job was a guest role in the
NBC primetime drama
ER. Fanning then had several guest roles on television series, including
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,
The Practice, and
Spin City. She also portrayed the title characters of
Ally McBeal and
The Ellen Show as adolescents.
2000s In 2001, Fanning was chosen to star opposite
Sean Penn and
Michelle Pfeiffer in the film
I Am Sam, as the daughter of a
mentally challenged man who is fighting for child custody. Her role in the film made Fanning the youngest person ever to be nominated for a
Screen Actors Guild Award, being seven years of age at the time. She also won the Best Young Actor/Actress award from the
Broadcast Film Critics Association for her performance. Fanning's performance would later be incorporated into the music video for
Rufus Wainwright's cover of
the Beatles' "
Across the Universe"; the song itself was included in
I Am Sam. '' in 2005 In 2002, director
Steven Spielberg cast Fanning in the lead child role of Allison "Allie" Clarke/Keys in the science-fiction
miniseries Taken. By this time, she had received positive notices from several film critics, including Tom Shales of
The Washington Post, who wrote that Fanning "has the perfect sort of otherworldly look about her, an enchanting young actress called upon ... to carry a great weight." In the same year, Fanning appeared in three films: as a kidnapping victim who proves to be more than her abductors bargained for in
Trapped, as the young version of
Reese Witherspoon's character in
Sweet Home Alabama, and as Katie in the film
Hansel and Gretel. A year later, she starred in two prominent films, playing the uptight child to an immature nanny played by
Brittany Murphy in
Uptown Girls and as Sally in
The Cat in the Hat. In addition, Fanning did
voice-over work for four animated projects during this period. In 2004, Fanning appeared in
Man on Fire as Pita, a nine-year-old who wins over the heart of a retired mercenary (
Denzel Washington) hired to protect her from kidnappers.
Roger Ebert wrote that Fanning "is a pro at only 10 years old, and creates a heart-winning character." In 2004, she made an appearance on season 10 of the television series
Friends, playing the role of Mackenzie, a young girl who is moving out of the house
Monica and
Chandler are buying.
Hide and Seek was her first release in 2005, opposite
Robert De Niro. The film was generally panned, but critic Chuck Wilson called it "a fascinating meeting of equals – if the child star [Fanning] challenged the master [De Niro] to a game of stare-down, the legend might very well blink first." Also in 2004, Fanning narrated the documentary film
In the Realms of the Unreal. Fanning voiced
Lilo Pelekai (taking over for
Daveigh Chase) in the
direct-to-video film
Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch. She also had a small part in the
Rodrigo García film
Nine Lives (released in October 2005), in which she shared an unbroken, nine-minute scene with actress
Glenn Close, who had her own praise for Fanning: "She's definitely an old soul. She's one of those gifted people that come along every now and then." Fanning also recorded her lead role in
Coraline during this time. Fanning completed filming on
Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story (opposite
Kurt Russell) in late October 2004.
Kris Kristofferson, who plays her character's grandfather in the film, said that she is like
Bette Davis reincarnated. While promoting her role in
Dreamer, Fanning became a registered member of
Girl Scouts of the USA at a special ceremony, which was followed by a screening of the film for members of the Girl Scouts of the San Fernando Valley Council. Fanning then went on to star in
War of the Worlds, starring alongside
Tom Cruise.
War director
Steven Spielberg praised "how quickly she understands the situation in a sequence, how quickly she sizes it up, measures it up and how she would really react in a real situation." Fanning moved to another film without a break: ''
Charlotte's Web,
which she finished filming in May 2005 in Australia, and premiered on December 15, 2006. During the summer of 2006, Fanning worked on the film Hounddog'', described in press reports as a "dark story of
abuse, violence, and
Elvis Presley adulation in the rural South." Fanning's parents have been criticized for allowing her to film a scene in which her character is raped. Fanning defended the film, though, by saying to
Reuters, "It's not really happening. It's a movie, and it's called acting." Although the film was a failure both at the box office and with critics,
Roger Ebert praised Fanning's performance, comparing her to
Jodie Foster in
Taxi Driver. In the same year, at the age of 12, she was invited to join the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, becoming the youngest member in the academy's history. Later that year, she was ranked 4th in
Forbes list of "Top-Earning Stars Aged Under 21", having earned an estimated $4 million in 2006. '' in 2009|left|226x226px In the spring of 2007, she filmed
Fragments – Winged Creatures alongside
Kate Beckinsale,
Guy Pearce,
Josh Hutcherson, and
Academy Award-winners
Forest Whitaker and
Jennifer Hudson. She plays Anne Hagen, a girl who witnesses her father's murder and who turns to religion in the aftermath. In July, Fanning appeared on a short film titled
Cutlass, one of
Glamour's "
Reel Moments" based on readers' personal essays.
Cutlass was directed by
Kate Hudson. From September to the end of the year, Fanning filmed
Push, which centers on a group of young American expatriates with
telekinetic and
clairvoyant abilities who hide from the Division (a U.S. government agency) in Hong Kong and band together to try to escape the control of the division. Fanning played Cassie Holmes, a 13-year-old psychic. In January 2008, Fanning began filming the
film adaptation of
The Secret Life of Bees, a novel by
Sue Monk Kidd. Set in
South Carolina in 1964, the story centers on Lily Owens (Fanning), who escapes her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father by running away with her caregiver and only friend (played by
Jennifer Hudson) to a South Carolina town, where they are taken in by an eccentric trio of beekeeping sisters (played by
Queen Latifah,
Sophie Okonedo, and
Alicia Keys). Her films, horror animation
Coraline and science-fiction thriller
Push, were released on the same day, February 6, 2009. Fanning played Jane, a member of the
Volturi Guard, in
New Moon and reprised the role in
Eclipse, based on novels by
Stephenie Meyer.
New Moon was released on November 20, 2009, and
Eclipse was released on the following June. On in March 2009, she was ranked number three on the list of
Forbes Most Valuable Young Stars after having earned an estimated $14 million.
2010s In 2010, Fanning starred in the film
The Runaways, alongside
Kristen Stewart,
Stella Maeve, and
Scout Taylor-Compton. She played
Cherie Currie, the lead singer of
the band. From then until the end of early 2011, Fanning filmed
Breaking Dawn, reprising the role of Jane. Fanning provided voice acting in
Rise, a documentary film commissioned by
U.S. Figure Skating to mark the 50th anniversary of the crash of
Sabena Flight 548, which resulted in the loss of the entire American team and subsequent cancellation of the
1961 World Figure Skating Championships. She read a poem written by U.S. national champion
Laurence Owen (who died in the crash) that was said to be an eerie premonition of the afterlife. '' party for the 2012
Tribeca Film Festival During the summer of 2011, Fanning played Tessa in
Now Is Good and also became the face of
Marc Jacobs'
Oh, Lola! perfume campaign. The ad was banned in the UK as the
Advertising Standards Authority judged that "the ad could be seen to sexualize a child." In 2011, Fanning played Annie James in
The Motel Life, released in November of 2013. That fall, Fanning had a co-starring role in
Effie Gray, directed by Richard Laxton and written and starring
Emma Thompson. In August 2012, she played the lead role of a wealthy financial ecoterrorist Dena Brauer, in a thriller film
Night Moves opposite
Jesse Eisenberg and
Peter Sarsgaard. The film was directed by
Kelly Reichardt.
Night Moves tells the story of three eco-terrorists who work at an organic farm and collaborate on a plot to blow up a hydroelectric dam. In January 2013, she was cast as
Beverly Aadland in the
Errol Flynn biopic
The Last of Robin Hood. Later that year in September, Fanning was cast as Olivia in
Franny. In November, she was cast in
Viena and the Fantomes as Viena, about a roadie traveling across America with a punk rock band in the 1980s. The film was originally set to be released in 2015, but later released digitally on June 30, 2020. In February 2014, she recorded a voice role for the animated film
Yellowbird. In May 2015,
Every Secret Thing, based on the 2004 novel by
Laura Lippman, co-starring
Diane Lane,
Elizabeth Banks,
Danielle Macdonald,
Colin Donnell, and
Nate Parker was released in the U.S. Also in 2015,
Martin Koolhoven confirmed that
Jack Roth joined the cast of the film
Brimstone. In June 2015,
The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Fanning and
Kit Harington had replaced
Mia Wasikowska and
Robert Pattinson in the film, respectively. The set of primary recording began June 15 and was to be held in Romania, Spain, and Germany. Fanning had a cameo role in the heist comedy ''
Ocean's 8, which was released in 2018. The same year starred as Sara Howard in the TNT historical television series The Alienist based on novel of the same name. In August 2018, TNT ordered a sequel series based upon the follow-up novel The Angel of Darkness'', with Fanning set to return to reprise the role of Sara Howard. In 2019, Fanning played
Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme in
Quentin Tarantino's comedy-drama
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, for which she and the cast of the film were nominated for the
SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
2020s In 2023, Fanning had a starring role in
The Watchers, a supernatural film set in
Ireland. In December 2019, it had been announced that Fanning and her sister
Elle Fanning would star together in an adaption of
Kristin Hannah's 2015 novel,
The Nightingale, which is set to be directed by
Mélanie Laurent. In March 2021, the sisters announced the formation of a production company, Lewellen Pictures. Their company has a
first-look deal with
MRC Television/Civic Center Media. In March 2023, Fanning was cast to star in the
Netflix miniseries
The Perfect Couple. In the same year, a
The Bell Jar adaptation to which Fanning was attached was being considered for a TV series. Development has remained on hold.. Fanning starred in
The Equalizer 3, reuniting with
Denzel Washington. She was nominated for a 2025
Golden Globes and
Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the
Netflix series
Ripley as Marge Sherwood. == Comments on child stardom ==