On February 23, 1994, a baby girl was born in Conyers, Georgia. Her mother, Joy, wanted to name the baby Hannah, and her father, Steve, wanted to name her Dakota, so they compromised - Hannah Dakota Fanning. Steve and Joy had no idea what a big star their child would soon become.
For some reason, Hannah became known as Dakota, her middle name. Early on it was evident that Dakota was different than the average child her age. At age two she learned to read and did ballet, and she loved to "play pretend." When Dakota was four years old, her sister, Elle, was born, and later on both sisters started studying acting at a 'playhouse.' They would study a play, and at the end of the week they would perform it. Someone at the playhouse realized that Dakota was talented and told her mother, "You should get her with an agency." Mrs. Fanning took that advice, and the family moved out to L.A. for pilot season. Soon, at the age of five, Dakota got a part in a nationwide Tide detergant commercial.
Dakota won a lot of guest-starring roles on hit TV shows, including ER, Malcolm in the Middle, and Spin City, but it was when she landed a role in the movie I am Sam that she got her big break. Dakota won audiences over as Lucy Diamond Dawson with her blonde hair, blue eyes, and most importantly, great acting skills. People in Hollywood began to notice this up-and-coming star as well, and within two years she was given roles in such movies as Trapped, Uptown Girls, and Cat in the Hat. She even played a half alien in the Steven Spielberg mini-series "Taken." Most recently, Dakota was Pita Ramos in the hit movie Man on Fire. In 2005, she will play Robert DeNiro's daughter in Hide and Seek. She is gaining more fans by the year, and some people are even predicting that she will win an Oscar within the next five years. Who knows? Dakota Fanning can do anything she sets her mind to.
