Hannah Dakota Fanningborn February 23, 1994), better known as Dakota Fanning, is an American actress. Fanning's breakthrough performance was in I Am Sam in 2001. As a child actress, she appeared in high-profile films such as Man on Fire, War of the Worlds, and Charlotte's Web. Fanning began the transition to more adult roles with Hounddog and The Secret Life of Bees. Recent films have included The Twilight Saga and The Runaways. She has won numerous awards and is the youngest nominee for a Screen Actors Guild Award.2 Acting career 2.1 Early years 2.2 2002–2003 2.3 2004–2005 2.4 2006–2007 2.5 2008–2009 2.6 2010–present 3 Filmography 4 Awards and nominations 5 References 6 External linksFanning was born in Conyers, Georgia, the daughter of Joy (née Arrington), who played tennis professionally, and Steve J. Fanning, who played minor league baseball and now works as an electronics salesman in Los Angeles. Her maternal grandfather was former American football player, Rick Arrington, and her aunt is former ESPN reporter Jill Arrington Dakota is the older sister of Elle Fanning, also an actress.Fanning has German and Irish ancestry She and her family are Southern Baptist She attends Campbell Hall School in North Hollywood, Californiaand is on the varsity spirit cheerleading squadFanning has been accepted early into New York University and will enroll in Fall 2011Fanning began acting at the age of five after appearing on a Tide commercial. Her first significant acting job was a guest-starring role in the NBC prime-time drama ER, which remains one of her favorite roles ("I played a car accident victim who has leukemia. I got to wear a neck brace and nose tubes for the two days I workedFanning subsequently had several guest roles on established 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 young girls. In 2001, Fanning was chosen to star opposite Sean Penn in the movie I Am Sam, the story of a mentally challenged man who fights for the custody of his daughter (played by Fanning).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 performanceDakota FanningDakota FanningDakota FanningDakota FanningDakota FanningDakota FanningDakota FanningDakota FanningDakota FanningDakota FanningDakota FanningDakota FanningDakota FanningDakota FanningDakota FanningDakota FanningDakota FanningDakota Fanning
