Born April 9, 1998 in Conyers, Georgia, USA, Mary Elle Fanning credited as Elle Fanning is an American actress mainly known for her starring roles in Phoebe in Wonderland, Somewhere, Super 8 and We Bought a Zoo which will receive a theatrical release on December 23, 2011. She is the younger sister of actress Dakota Fanning.
Fanning is the daughter of Joy, 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. Her mom named her Mary and her dad named her Elle, so her name is Mary Elle Fanning. Her maternal grandfather is American football player Rick Arrington, and her aunt is ESPN reporter Jill Arrington. She has German and Irish ancestry. Fanning and her family are members of the Southern Baptist Convention. Fanning currently attends Campbell Hall School in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, that was also attended by child actresses Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen. She was home-schooled by her grandmother, Mary Jane Arrington, until 2007.
Elle’s step into stardom was when she was just two years and 11 months old when she played the younger version of her sister, Dakota Fanning, in the blockbuster movie I Am Sam (2001) as Lucy, age 2 years. She then played younger Dakota again when Dakota was cast in “Taken” (2002) as Allie, age 3 years. however, her first big independent movie without her sister was in 2003’s Day Care as Jamie. She then had two guest appearances on TV, in “Judging Amy” (1999) and “CSI: Miami” (2002).
Elle was now becoming more and more successful and famous, and she got another role, this time in 2004, in The Door in the Floor (2004) with Kim Basinger. Her career seems to be getting better and better, as she accomplished 2 movies this year, 2005, Because of Winn-Dixie (2005) and now she is in post-production of I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (2006).
By the end of 2006, Fanning began to book lead roles. The first of these was the one of Emma Learner in Reservation Road—the grieving daughter of Grace and Ethan Learner. The film deals with the aftermath of a tragic car accident in that Emma’s brother is killed. Late in 2008, Fanning had a small part in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as a younger version of Cate Blanchett’s character. Mid-year 2007, Fanning filmed the title role Phoebe of Phoebe in Wonderland—the fantastical tale of a little girl who will not—or cannot—follow the rules. Phoebe in Wonderland also starred Felicity Huffman and was released in March 2009.
Fanning starred in J. J. Abrams’ sci-fi film Super 8 as Alice Dainard. The movie was released on June 10, 2011 and centers around a group of kids who are forced to deal with strange happenings in their small town.
In late 2010, Fanning was working on Francis Ford Coppola’s new film Twixt, that Coppola has written based on a dream. She plays the role of a young ghost named V. In 2011, Fanning will be seen in Cameron Crowe’s We Bought a Zoo. She will play Lily, a 13-year-old who is working illegally at the zoo’s restaurant, and lives on the property with her only parental figure, Kelly (Scarlett Johansson).
Elle Fanning Photo Gallery
