Hannah Dakota Fanning, known professionally as Dakota Fanning, was born on February 23, 1994, in Conyers, Georgia, to Steven Fanning, a former minor league baseball player who later worked as an electronics salesman, and Heather Joy (née Arrington), a former tennis professional. Her younger sister, Elle Fanning, is also an actress. Fanning is of German and Irish descent. She attended Campbell Hall School in North Hollywood, California, graduating in 2011, and subsequently enrolled at New York University, where she studied gender studies and graduated in 2014.
Fanning began her acting career at a young age, appearing in commercials and television series. Her breakthrough role came in 2001 with the film I Am Sam, where she played the daughter of a mentally challenged father, portrayed by Sean Penn. Her performance garnered critical acclaim and earned her a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, making her the youngest nominee in the award’s history.
Following I Am Sam, Fanning appeared in a string of successful and critically acclaimed films, establishing herself as a prominent child actress. Some of her notable film roles include: