Elle Fanning

Mary Elle Fanning was born on April 9, 1998, in Conyers, Georgia, USA. The daughter of a tennis-playing mother and a baseball-playing father, as well as the younger sister of the famous actress Dakota Fanning, Elle began her acting career at a very young age. At just three years old, she became familiar with film sets by playing younger versions of characters portrayed by her older sister; her first such role was in the film "I Am Sam" (2001). Her first significant role that drew attention on its own was the comedy film "Daddy Day Care" (2003), in which she starred alongside Eddie Murphy. Fanning, who started her career as a child actor and quickly rose to prominence, proved her talent by taking roles in prestigious productions such as "Babel" (2006) and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (2008). However, the true turning point that made her the focal point for critics and the film industry was Sofia Coppola's Golden Lion-winning film "Somewhere" (2010) and J.J. Abrams' sci-fi thriller "Super 8" (2011). With these performances, she began to be recognized as one of the most talented young actors of her generation, shedding the image of a child star.

Throughout the 2010s, she demonstrated her versatility by appearing in both independent films and big-budget studio productions. Her global recognition expanded with her portrayal of Princess Aurora in Disney's box office record-breaker "Maleficent" (2014) and its sequel, "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil" (2019). During the same period, she brought to life more mature and complex characters in Nicolas Winding Refn's psychological horror film "The Neon Demon" (2016), Mike Mills' "20th Century Women" (2016), and Sofia Coppola's "The Beguiled" (2017), with which she reunited. One of Elle Fanning's most brilliant periods in her career arrived with Hulu's satirical comedy-drama series "The Great" (2020–2023). In this series, where she portrayed Russian Empress Catherine the Great, she received perfect scores from both audiences and critics. With this role, she was nominated for Golden Globe and Emmy Awards, further cementing her success in the comedy genre. Beyond her film and television career, Fanning is also an influential figure in the fashion world; at just 21 years old in 2019, she became the youngest person ever selected to serve on the Cannes Film Festival jury, etching her name into history.

In recent years, the actor has also taken to the Broadway stage, receiving praise from theatre critics for his performance in the play "Appropriate" (2023). Most recently, he continues to advance his career without slowing down with ambitious projects such as the biographical film "A Complete Unknown" (2024), in which he shares the lead role with Timothée Chalamet.