Elle Fanning

Biography

Mary Elle Fanning (born April 9, 1998) is an American actress. As a child, she made her film debut as the younger version of her sister Dakota Fanning's character in the drama film I Am Sam (2001). She appeared in several other films as a child actress, including Daddy Day Care (2003), Babel (2006), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Phoebe in Wonderland (both 2008), and the miniseries The Lost Room (2006). She then had leading roles in Sofia Coppola's drama Somewhere (2010) and J. J. Abrams' science fiction film Super 8 (2011). Fanning played Princess Aurora in the fantasy films Maleficent (2014) and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019) while working in independent films such as Sally Potter's Ginger & Rosa (2012), Nicolas Winding Refn's The Neon Demon (2016), Mike Mills' 20th Century Women (2016), and Coppola's The Beguiled (2017). From 2020 to 2023, she starred as Catherine the Great in the Hulu period satire series The Great, for which she received nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. She has since portrayed Michelle Carter in the Hulu limited series The Girl from Plainville (2022), made her Broadway debut in the play Appropriate (2023), and played a character based on Suze Rotolo in the biographical drama A Complete Unknown (2024).

Known For

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Criminal Minds

House

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Late Night with Seth Meyers

CSI: Miami

All Movies (64)

• The Nightingale2027 · as Isabelle
• The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping2026 · as Effie Trinket
• Rosebush Pruning2026 · as Martha
• Predator: Badlands2025 · as Thia / Tessa
• Sentimental Value2025 · as Rachel Kemp
• On the Red Carpet Presents: "A Complete Unknown"2025 · as Self
• A Complete Unknown2024 · as Sylvie Russo
• Penn & Teller: Try This at Home2020 · as Self
• The Disney Family Singalong2020 · as Self
• The Roads Not Taken2020 · as Molly
• All the Bright Places2020 · as Violet
• That Click2019 · as Self
• Maleficent: Mistress of Evil2019 · as Princess Aurora
• A Rainy Day in New York2019 · as Ashleigh Enright
• Camp! The Movie2019 · as Self
• Teen Spirit2019 · as Violet Valenski
• Galveston2018 · as Rocky
• I Think We're Alone Now2018 · as Grace
• The Vanishing of Sidney Hall2018 · as Melody
• How to Talk to Girls at Parties2017 · as Zan
• Mary Shelley2017 · as Mary Shelley
• The Beguiled2017 · as Alicia
• Elle Fanning's Fan Fantasy2017 · as Self
• 20th Century Women2016 · as Julie
• Live by Night2016 · as Loretta Figgis
• Ballerina2016 · as Felicie (voice)
• 3 Generations2016 · as Ray
• The Neon Demon2016 · as Jesse
• Trumbo2015 · as Niki Trumbo
• The Boxtrolls2014 · as Winnie Portley-Rind (voice)
• Young Ones2014 · as Mary Holm
• Maleficent2014 · as Princess Aurora
• Low Down2014 · as Amy Albany
• First Stars I See Tonight2014 · as Girl
• Twixt: A Documentary2013 · as Self
• Likeness2013 · as Mia
• Sigur Rós: Valtari Film Experiment2013 · as Sara (Leaning Towards Solace)
• Wide-Awake2012 · as The Rainmaker
• Ginger & Rosa2012 · as Ginger
• We Bought a Zoo2011 · as Lily Miska
• Twixt2011 · as V.
• Super 82011 · as Alice Dainard
• Making Somewhere2011 · as Self
• The Curve of Forgotten Things2011 · as Girl
• The Nutcracker2010 · as Mary
• Somewhere2010 · as Cleo
• Astro Boy2009 · as Grace (voice)
• First the Egg2009
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button2008 · as Daisy Age 7
• Phoebe in Wonderland2008 · as Phoebe Lichten
• Common Ground: Under Construction Notes2007 · as Self
• Reservation Road2007 · as Emma Learner
• A Very Brave Witch2007
• Day 73 with Sarah2007 · as Sarah
• The Nines2007 · as Noelle
• Déjà Vu2006 · as Abbey
• Babel2006 · as Debbie Jones
• I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With2006 · as Penelope
• Because of Winn-Dixie2005 · as Sweety Pie Thomas
• P.N.O.K.2005 · as Rebecca Bullard
• The Door in the Floor2004 · as Ruth Cole
• Daddy Day Care2003 · as Jamie
• I Am Sam2001 · as Lucy (2 Years Old)
• I Am Sybil— · as Shirley Mason

All TV Shows (32)

• Margo's Got Money Troubles2026 · as Margo
• The Girl from Plainville2022 · as Michelle Carter
• Paris in Love2021 · as Self
• The Great2020 · as Catherine II of Russia
• The Kelly Clarkson Show2019 · as Self - Guest
• No Activity2017 · as Madison
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert2015 · as Self
• Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter2015 · as Self
• Variety Studio: Actors on Actors2014 · as Self
• Late Night with Seth Meyers2014 · as Self - Guest
• The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon2014 · as Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon2014 · as Self - Guest
• The Rosie Show2011 · as Self - Guest
• Conan2010 · as Self
• Dirty Sexy Money2007
• The Lost Room2006 · as Anna Miller
• Criminal Minds2005 · as Tracy Belle
• Robot Chicken2005 · as Sarah Williams / Logan's Friend #2 / Nerd's Wife (voice)
• House2004 · as Stella Dalton
• CSI: NY2004 · as Jenny Como
• The Ellen DeGeneres Show2003 · as Self
• Jimmy Kimmel Live!2003 · as Self - Guest
• Jimmy Kimmel Live!2003 · as Self
• Taken2002 · as Allie at 3 yrs
• CSI: Miami2002 · as Molly Walker
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit1999 · as Eden
• Judging Amy1999 · as Rochelle Cobbs
• MTV Movie & TV Awards1992 · as Self / Presenter
• LIVE with Kelly and Mark1988 · as Self - Guest
• The Oscars1953 · as Self - Presenter
• The Oscars1953 · as Self
• Discretion— · as Lenny