Dakota Fanning
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| Dakota Fanning | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image:Dakota Fanning cropped.jpg Dakota Fanning at the London premiere of War of the Worlds in June 2005 | ||||||
| Birth name | Hannah Dakota Fanning | |||||
| Born | February 23 1994 Conyers, Georgia, U.S.A. | |||||
| Occupation | actress | |||||
| Years active | 1999—present | |||||
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Dakota Fanning (born February 23 1994) is an American actress. Fanning's breakthrough performance was in I Am Sam in 2001. As of 2007, her most well-known films have been War of the Worlds and Charlotte's Web. She has won numerous awards, and is currently the youngest person ever to have been nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Fanning was born Hannah Dakota Fanning in Conyers, Georgia, the daughter of Joy (née Arrington), who played tennis professionally, and Steve J. Fanning, who played minor league baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals and now works as an electronics salesman in Los Angeles.[1] Her maternal grandfather is football player Rick Arrington and her aunt is ESPN reporter Jill Arrington.[2] Fanning is the older sister of Elle Fanning, also an actress. Fanning's mother had wanted to name her "Hannah" and her father wanted to name her "Dakota"; she has always used Dakota among her friends and family. Fanning is of half German descent and her last name is of Irish origin.[3] Fanning and her family are Baptists, members of the Southern Baptist Convention.[4]
[edit] Early career
Fanning began acting at the age of five after appearing with legendary musician Ray Charles in a television commercial for the state lottery[5] and being chosen for 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 worked.")[6]
Fanning subsequently had several guest roles on established television series, including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Friends, The Practice, Spin City and Malcolm in the Middle. 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 I Am Sam, the story of a mentally impaired man who fights for the custody of his daughter (played by Fanning).
This role made Fanning the youngest person (in 2002, at age eight) ever to be nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award, for her supporting performance. When she won the Best Young Actor/Actress award from the Broadcast Film Critics Association for the film, she was too short to reach the microphone; presenter Orlando Bloom held her up for the duration of her acceptance speech.
[edit] 2002–2003
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 by 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."[7]
In the same year, Fanning appeared in three films: As a kidnap 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 movie Hansel and Gretel.
Fanning was featured even more prominently in two films released in 2003: Playing the uptight child to Brittany Murphy's immature nanny in Uptown Girls, and as Sally in The Cat in the Hat.
Fanning did voice-over work for four animated projects during this period: As Satsuki in Disney's English language release of My Neighbor Totoro, as Kim Possible in preschool in the Disney Channel series Kim Possible, as a little girl in the Fox series Family Guy, and as young Wonder Woman in an episode of Cartoon Network's Justice League.
[edit] 2004–2005
In 2004, Fanning appeared in Man on Fire as Pita, a nine-year-old who wins over the heart of the retired assassin (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."[8]
Hide and Seek, was her first release in 2005, opposite Robert De Niro. The film was generally panned, and 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."[9] Fanning voiced Lilo (succeeding Daveigh Chase) in the direct-to-video film Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch. She also had a small part in the Rodrigo Garcia 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."[10]
Fanning completed filming on Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story (opposite Kurt Russell) in late October 2004. Russell declared he was astonished by his co-star's performance in the film. Russell, 54, who plays as Dakota's father in the movie, declared she is the best actress he worked with in his entire career and that he was astonished by her acting ability and well-rounded attitude. Russell says, "I guarantee you, (Dakota) is the best actress I will work with in my entire career." [11] Kris Kristofferson, who plays her character's grandfather in the movie, said that she's like Bette Davis reincarnated.[12]
While promoting her role in the movie Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story, Dakota 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. Dakota is not a member of a troop, but rather registered as a "Juliette" (GSUSA's title for independently registered girls). [13]
She then went directly to the set of War of the Worlds, starring alongside Tom Cruise. Released in reverse order (War in June of 2005 and Dreamer in the following October), both films were critical successes. 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."[14]
After filming was completed on War of the Worlds, Fanning moved straight to another film, without a break: Charlotte's Web, which she finished filming in May 2005, in Australia. Released on December 15th, 2006, Web met generally warm critical acclaim. Producer Jordan Kerner said, "...when she was so caught up in War of the Worlds, we had to end up going on a search for other young actresses. They would have been nothing compared to her."[15] Fanning also provided voice work for Coraline, scheduled for release sometime in 2008.[16]
[edit] 2006–2007
Over 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 agent noted that the script is "challenging" to Fanning as an actress.[17] Fanning's parents have been criticized for allowing her to film a scene in which her character is raped; Fanning called that an "attack." "It's not really happening," she told Reuters. "It's a movie, and it's called acting."[18] Director Deborah Kampmeier addressed the controversy in the January 2007 edition of Premiere: "The assumption that [Dakota] was violated in order to give this performance denies her talent."[19]
In March and April of 2007, she filmed Winged Creatures, alongside Kate Beckinsale, Guy Pearce, Josh Hutcherson, and Academy Award winners Forest Whitaker and Jennifer Hudson. Dakota plays Anne Hagen, a girl who witnesses her father's shooting murder and who turns to religion in the aftermath.
In July 2007, Dakota filmed for three days a short film titled Cutlass, one of Glamour magazine's "Reel Moments" based on readers' personal essays. Cutlass was directed by Kate Hudson. Available online.
From September to December 2007, Dakota filmed Push which centers on a group of young American ex-pats with telekinetic and clairvoyant abilities who hide from a U.S. government agency in Hong Kong and band together to try to escape the control of the division."[20] Dakota plays Cassie Holmes, a thirteen-year-old futureteller.
[edit] 2008–present
In January 2008, Dakota will begin filming the movie adaptation of The Secret Life of Bees, a novel by Sue Monk Kidd.[21] 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).
In March 2008, Dakota and her sister Elle Fanning, will begin filming the movie adaptation of My Sister's Keeper, a novel by Jodi Picoult.[21] Dakota will play Kate Fitzgerald, a girl diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia, and whose parents conceived a genetic match sister, Anna played by Elle Fanning, to prolong her life.
Another potential future project is The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle which Danny DeVito will direct. [22] The movie will be an adaptation of the children's pirate tale The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, set on a ship in 1832.
[edit] Personal life
Fanning is an avid reader, and includes among her hobbies knitting, swimming, piano, violin, ballet, and horseback riding.[23]
Dakota also wears ceramic orthodontic braces and a palatal expander.
In 2006, she was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as the youngest person ever at the age of 12.[24]
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Father Xmas | Clairee | 20-minute short subject |
| I Am Sam | Lucy Diamond Dawson | Shared role with Elle Fanning | |
| 2002 | Taken (TV) | Allison "Allie" Clarke/Keys | Miniseries |
| Trapped | Abigail Jennings | ||
| Sweet Home Alabama | Melanie (as a child) | ||
| Hansel and Gretel | Katie | ||
| 2003 | Uptown Girls | Lorraine "Ray" Schleine | |
| The Cat in the Hat | Sally | ||
| Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time | Preschool Kim (voice) | ||
| 2004 | Man on Fire | Lupita Martin Ramos | |
| My Neighbor Totoro | Satsuki Kusakabe (voice) | English-language re-release; directed by Hayao Miyazaki | |
| In the Realms of the Unreal | Narrator (voice) | ||
| 2005 | Hide and Seek | Emily Callaway | |
| War of the Worlds | Rachel Ferrier | ||
| Lilo & Stitch 2 | Lilo | ||
| Dreamer | Cale Crane | ||
| Nine Lives | Maria | ||
| 2006 | Charlotte's Web | Fern Arable | |
| 2007 | Hounddog | Lewellen | |
| Cutlass | Lacy | Short film, available online | |
| 2008 | Coraline | Coraline (voice) | Post Production |
| Winged Creatures | Anne Hagen | Post Production | |
| Push | Cassie Holmes | Post Production | |
| The Secret Life of Bees | Lily Owens | Filming to begin January 2008 | |
| 2009 | My Sister's Keeper | Kate Fitzgerald | Filming to begin March 2008 |
| Other | The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle | Charlotte Doyle | Rumored; directed by Danny DeVito |
[edit] Notable TV guest appearances
| Year | TV show | Role | Episode |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | ER | Delia Chadsey | "The Fastest Year" |
| Ally McBeal | Ally (5 years) | "Ally McBeal: The Musical, Almost" | |
| Strong Medicine | Edie's Girl | "Misconceptions" | |
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Brenda Collins | "Blood Drops" | |
| The Practice | Alessa Engel | "The Deal" | |
| Spin City | Cindy | "Toy Story" | |
| 2001 | Malcolm In The Middle | Emily | "New Neighbors" |
| The Fighting Fitzgeralds | Marie | "Pilot" | |
| Family Guy | Little girl | "To Live and Die in Dixie" | |
| The Ellen Show | Young Ellen | "Missing the Bus" | |
| 2004 | Justice League Unlimited | Young Wonder Woman (voice) | "Kid Stuff" |
| Friends | Mackenzie | "The One with Princess Consuela" |
[edit] Awards
- 2007 Favorite Movie Actress
- 2006 Best Performance by a Younger Actor, War of the Worlds
BFCA Awards|BFCA Award
- 2006 Best Young Actress, War of the Worlds
- 2002 Best Young Actor/Actress, I Am Sam
Sierra Awards|Sierra Award
- 2005 Youth in Film, War of the Worlds
- 2002 Youth in Film, I Am Sam
Bronze Leopards|Bronze Leopard
- 2005 Best Actress (shared with other cast members), Nine Lives
- 2005 Best Frightened Performance, Hide and Seek
Satellite Award:Special Achievement Award
- 2002 Outstanding New Talent, I Am Sam
- 2006 Best Performance in a Feature Film (Comedy or Drama) - Leading Young Actress, Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story
- 2002 Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Actress Age Ten or Under, I Am Sam
[edit] Parody
On Saturday Night Live, Fanning is portrayed by Amy Poehler as a pretentious child whose overly intellectual interests are out of step with those of her child actor colleagues who appear on her talk show. She is also portrayed in The DiCaprio Code by Scrapmation as a foulmouthed man trapped in the body of an "eternal child actress," possibly a nod to Baby Herman from Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
[edit] References
- ^ http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~battle/celeb/fanning.htm
- ^ Stein, Joel. "The Million-Dollar Baby", Time, 2005-02-27. Retrieved on 2007-12-10.
- ^ Dakota Fanning Lives Out Her Dreams. timessquare.com. Retrieved on July 21, 2006.
- ^ Interview: Dakota Fanning. lifeteen.com. Retrieved on July 19, 2006.
- ^ Winning Numbers. Shoot magazine via findarticles.com. Retrieved on March 13, 2006.
- ^ Fanning the flames. Jam! Movies. Retrieved on March 13, 2006.
- ^ Sci Fi's 'Taken' Grabs You and Doesn't Let Go. The Washington Post via virtuallystrange.net. Retrieved on March 13, 2006.
- ^ Man on Fire (review). rogerebert.com. Retrieved on March 13, 2006.
- ^ Hide and Seek review. laweekly.com. Retrieved on March 13, 2006.
- ^ Glenn Close raves about Dakota Fanning. monstersandcritics.com. Retrieved on March 13, 2006.
- ^ Kurt Russell Says Dakota Fanning Is The Best Actress He Ever Played With. softpedia.com. Retrieved on April 12, 2007.
- ^ Dreamer: Inspired By a True Story (2005) DVD Review. reel.com. Retrieved on January 28, 2007.
- ^ Dakota Fanning, Movie Star and Girl Scout. girlscouts.org. Retrieved on April 28, 2007.
- ^ War of the Worlds: Spielberg & Cruise - Part I. comingsoon.net. Retrieved on March 13, 2006.
- ^ Exclusive Interview : Jordan Kerner. moviehole.net. Retrieved on December 15, 2006.
- ^ Dakota Fanning Signs on to "Coraline". about.com. Retrieved on March 13, 2006.
- ^ All shook up over Dakota's Hounddog. nydailynews.com. Retrieved on July 20, 2006.
- ^ Dakota Fanning: 'It's called acting'. cnn.com. Retrieved on January 29, 2007.
- ^ "No More Kid Stuff", Premiere, January 2007.
- ^ "Fanning set to 'Push' for McGuigan", Vanity Fair, August 2007.
- ^ a b "Cast set for 'Secret Life of Bees'", December 2007.
- ^ "USA Today News", June 2007.
- ^ Dakota Fanning Chats About Dreamer. timeforkids.com.
- ^ "Brokeback stars to join Academy", BBC, April 2007.
[edit] External links
- Dakota Fanning's biography on filmbugar:داكوتا فانينغ
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