Elle Fanning

Elle Fanning (born April 9, 1998, Conyers, Georgia, U.S.) is an American actress who has been a consistent screen presence since beginning her Hollywood career as a toddler. Following her debut in the film I Am Sam (2001), Fanning worked steadily in movies and television and was for a time perhaps best known as the younger sister of child star Dakota Fanning. After gaining positive notice for her adolescent roles in such films as Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere (2010) and J.J. Abrams’s Super 8 (2011), Elle Fanning successfully navigated the transition out of being a child actor and established a prolific and respected career as an adult. She is especially recognized for her starring role as the Russian empress Catherine II in the Hulu show The Great (2020–23), for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award for best actress in a comedy series. Fanning also gained notice for portraying several other real-life figures, including the eponymous Gothic author in Mary Shelley (2017) and Sylvie Russo (based on Bob Dylan’s former girlfriend Suze Rotolo) in A Complete Unknown (2024). In 2026 Fanning was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actress for her performance in Sentimental Value (2025).

Childhood and early roles

Fanning was born in Conyers, Georgia, a small city in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Her parents, Heather Joy Arrington and Steven Fanning, were both former athletes. She is four years younger than her sister, Dakota. The family moved to Los Angeles when Elle was a toddler so that Dakota could pursue acting opportunities. Elle made her film debut, at two years old, in I Am Sam (2001), portraying the younger version of Dakota’s character. The two sisters also played differently aged versions of the same role in the miniseries Taken (2002). During this time their father worked as an electronics salesperson, and their mother and maternal grandmother accompanied them on film sets. Elle Fanning’s other notable early film roles include the family comedy Daddy Day Care (2003), the drama The Door in the Floor (2004), the children’s adventure comedy Because of Winn-Dixie (2005), and Alejandro González Iñárritu’s sprawling drama Babel (2006). She also routinely made guest appearances on broadcast television shows in the early 2000s, including CSI: Miami (in a 2003 episode), CSI: NY (in a 2004 episode), and House (in a 2006 episode). Fanning voiced Mei Kusakabe in the 2005 English-dubbed version of the 1988 Miyazaki Hayao animated film Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro).

20th Century Women, The Neon Demon, and Mary Shelley

Fanning’s first starring role was as the title character in Phoebe in Wonderland (2008), for which The New York Times praised her for “completely refraining from melodrama or show business cuteness” and giving “a touching, subtle portrayal of a troubled child.” That same year, she appeared in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as a younger version of Cate Blanchett’s character. In 2010 she starred as the daughter of a Hollywood actor (Stephen Dorff) in Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere, again earning plaudits for the subtlety of her performance. The following year Fanning gained further prominence with appearances in the sci-fi blockbuster Super 8, directed by J.J. Abrams; Francis Ford Coppola’s horror film Twixt; and the family comedy We Bought a Zoo. Meanwhile, having been homeschooled for much of her early childhood, Fanning enrolled in school starting in fourth grade and began studying ballet seriously; she graduated from high school in 2016.

Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors.

SIGN UP

By clicking “Sign Up”, you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

In 2012 she appeared in the 1960s-set coming-of-age film Ginger & Rosa. Her next major role came two years later in Disney’s Maleficent, a retelling of the “Sleeping Beauty” fairy tale, in which she played the princess Aurora opposite Angelina Jolie’s performance as the titular villain. In 2015 Fanning portrayed Ray, a teen transitioning from female to male, in 3 Generations. A year later Fanning played a cigarette-smoking teen on the cusp of adulthood in the comedy-drama 20th Century Women and starred as an aspiring young fashion model in the horror-thriller The Neon Demon. In 2017 Fanning reteamed with Sofia Coppola in The Beguiled and had the lead role in Mary Shelley, which follows the writer’s relationship with Percy Bysshe Shelley and her writing of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus during the so-called Haunted Summer of 1816. She once again earned strong critical notices for her performance in the latter film, with The New York Times applauding her “alert sensitivity and acute intelligence.”

The Great, A Complete Unknown, and Sentimental Value

In 2018 Fanning showcased her vocal skills in Teen Spirit, in which she played Violet, a Polish teenager living in Britain who tries out for a singing competition. The following year she reprised her role as Aurora in Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and costarred with Timothée Chalamet in the Woody Allen romantic comedy A Rainy Day in New York.

In 2020 Fanning began her first leading television role, as Catherine the Great in Hulu’s The Great (2020–23). A bawdy comedy that took numerous liberties with historical fact, the show followed the rise of the German princess to become the leader of Russia, her marriage to Peter III (Nicholas Hoult), and various court intrigues. The role generated critical acclaim for Fanning, including Emmy and Golden Globe award nominations. During the show’s run she also acted in The Girl from Plainville (2022), a true-crime miniseries also produced by Hulu.

Following the surprise cancellation of the popular The Great, Fanning made her Broadway debut in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s Appropriate, alongside Sarah Paulson; it won three Tony Awards, including for best revival of a play. In 2024 she appeared in the biopic A Complete Unknown playing the activist-artist Sylvie Russo, who encourages a young Bob Dylan (Chalamet) to become more politically engaged during his early career before their relationship falls apart amid his rising stardom. The following year Fanning played an American starlet who travels to Norway to work with an esteemed filmmaker in Sentimental Value, directed by Joachim Trier. The performance earned Fanning her first Academy Award nomination, for best supporting actress.

Explore Britannica Premium!

The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.

SUBSCRIBE

Also in 2025 Fanning performed, using motion-capture technology, a character in the video game Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, created by Hideo Kojima, and costarred in the sci-fi action movie Predator: Badlands. In May 2025 it was announced that Fanning had joined the cast of the upcoming Hunger Games prequel film, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, based on the book series by Suzanne Collins. She will play a young version of Effie Trinket, who was portrayed in the earlier films by Elizabeth Banks. In 2026 she starred in David E. Kelley’s Apple TV series, Margo’s Got Money Troubles, about a young mother who starts a wildly successful account on OnlyFans (an online platform widely known for adult content) to make money. Fanning received another Emmy nomination for best actress for her performance.

Other activities

Fanning has served as an executive producer on a number of her own series, including The Girl from Plainville, The Great, and Margo’s Got Money Troubles. In 2021 she and her sister started their own production company, Lewellen Pictures.

Long interested in fashion design, in 2018 Fanning appeared in a campaign for Tiffany & Co., and she later modeled in advertising campaigns for other brands, including Miu Miu and Cartier, and directed a short film for Gucci.