Hannah Dakota Fanning was born on February 23, 1994 in Conyers, Georgia where her parents lived. She has a younger sister named Elle who was born April 9, 1998. Their father, Steve Fanning, was a baseball player for several minor league teams in the 1990's, but now works as an electrician. At a very young age Dakota showed an interest in acting and as she says she "got with a playhouse" which was her first contact with the world of professional acting. Soon after that she was featured in a Tide commercial and then made a television appearance on the hit TV series "ER" at the age of six, followed soon after that with an appearance on the Ally McBeal show as 5-year old Ally. Because of all the work that young Dakota was getting in the Los Angeles area, her family moved there from Georgia to live close to a relative who lived in the L.A. area. Appearances on the TV series Strong Medicine and C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigations.

Dakota got her first role in a feature film in the year 2000 as the daughter of a mentally handicapped man played by Sean Pean in the movie I Am Sam, and her performance was unanimously praised by the critics. After her roles in I Am Sam and the teenager film Tomcats, she has appeared in such films as Trapped, Sweet Home Alabama, 24 Hours, Hansel and Gretl. She is featured in the 20 hour Sci-Fi Channel miniseries Taken, both as the narrator in all 10 episodes, but also in the pivotal role of the part alen part human child Allie Keys. Future roles are scheduled in The Cat in the Hat, Uptown Girls and Man on Fire. Dakota's recent televison appearances, besides Taken, are in The Ellen Show, Malcolm in the Middle, and Spin City. Dakota is home schooled and has a teacher who goes with her to all the movie and TV sets, and Dakota says that her teacher has taught her everything that she knows. Dakota is currently represented by the Osbrink Talent Agency of Universal City, California.