Trivia

At ages 11-12 she had an intense growth spurt, where she grew seven inches in a year and a half.

She was only three and a half years old when she attended her first Hollywood premiere.

Her mom named her Mary and her dad named her Elle, so her name is Mary Elle Fanning. Like her older sister, Dakota Fanning, she uses her middle name instead of her first name.

Is near-sighted and uses contact lenses most of the time. But she loves collecting "nerdy" looking glasses.

At age 12 she grew taller than her older sister by 4 years, Dakota Fanning.

She had to miss her senior prom to attend the premiere of The Neon Demon (2016) at the Cannes Film Festival. Her date flew out to Cannes to recreate their prom at the red carpet.

Her favorite actresses are Meryl Streep, Jodie Foster, Marion Cotillard, and her older sister Dakota Fanning.

To bond before filming Somewhere (2010), Elle's onscreen father, Stephen Dorff, cheered her on at a volleyball game at her school and took her to Color Me Mine.

She is the only actress to play a leading role in films by Francis Ford Coppola and his daughter Sofia Coppola.

Is related to British royalty as she is the 22nd great-granddaughter of King Edward III, also making her Catherine Princess of Wales (aka Kate Middleton)'s distant cousin.

Was ranked #19 alongside her sister, Dakota Fanning, on Entertainment Weekly's "30 Under 30" the actress list (2008).

She loves vintage clothes, especially clothes from the 1950's.

As a child, Elle played the role of newborn in her some of her big sister Dakota's projects.

She and her sister have a fear of thunderstorms and lightning.

Was home-schooled by her grandmother, Mary Jane Arrington, until 2007.

Casting notes for the role of young Ruth Cole in Lignes de vie (2004) originally called for identical twins, because producers believed the workload of the character to be too much for one little girl to take.

She likes to learn lines for her movies at night in the bathtub.

Having previously been home-schooled, Elle began attending Campbell Hall School in Los Angeles in the 4th grade, in Fall 2007. She will graduate in June 2016.

Younger sister of Dakota Fanning.

She always wanted to act, but fancies singing, dancing and designing clothes.

She says that she likes roles which are challenging and different. She decides on her next roles with her mother, but in the end, it always comes down to Elle's opinion.

She takes voice lessons, which has helped her through her roles in Phoebe in Wonderland (2008) and Casse-Noisette: l'histoire jamais racontée (2010) (aka Nutcracker: The Untold Story). She also takes dancing lessons.

She was submitted for consideration for a Primetime Emmy nomination for her guest-starring role in the episode Need to Know (2006). She was also submitted for consideration for a BAFTA nomination for her supporting role in Super 8 (2011).

She donated a signed picture to Rocky Stone to be given away as a prize in a Dakota Fanning contest to benefit less-fortunate kids as part of the Toy Mountain Campaign 2006.

She was initially cast to play Sophie Gray in Effie Gray (2014), which had her real life sister Dakota Fanning in the title role. But Elle had to be recast later, because she grew a few inches taller than her older sister.

Age 13, Elle has been the face of Marc Jacobs and Rodarte.

When Elle had to prepare for her ice skating scenes in Somewhere (2010), she trained from 7:00 to 8:00 AM for six weeks.

Her grandmother spent $US600 at an auction buying her an old cream container that used to belong to Marilyn Monroe.

Her paternal grandmother, Katharina Kramb, was born in Ludwigshafen, Germany. Her other ancestry is Irish, English, French, Welsh, Scottish, and Jersey/Guernsey Channel Islander.

She is taking honors classes in Biology, Geometry and French II in her 9th grade.

She also takes after-school ballet classes, as well as hip-hop dancing and jazz. She met her dance instructor while working on Phoebe in Wonderland.

By age 21, she had worked with directors J. J. Abrams, Francis Ford Coppola and Sofia Coppola, Woody Allen, David Fincher, Ben Affleck, Sally Potter, Nicolas Winding Refn, Cameron Crowe, John Cameron Mitchell, Reed Morano, Mike Mills, Tony Scott, and Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu,.

She attended her first Couture Runway show at the age of 13 in Paris, where she saw the Chanel Couture extravaganza.

One of her favorite hobbies is horse riding, and she has her own horse. Her sister, Dakota Fanning, has a horse named Goldie.

In mid 2006 she had to wear glasses all the time, except at events and during filming.

She and her sister Dakota Fanning love to watch Fear Factor (2001).

Learned the piano.

She has appeared in three films that have been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Babel (2006), L'Étrange Histoire de Benjamin Button (2008) and Un parfait inconnu (2024).

To celebrate her seventh birthday, she went with her family to see Cirque du Soleil perform "Quidam" during its run in Melbourne, Australia.

She has pictures of Marilyn Monroe in her room, and she also has a picture of Regis Philbin.

Like her older sister, Dakota Fanning, Elle was a cheerleader for Campbell Hall School.

She was spoofed by Avril Lavigne in a 2007 episode of Saturday Night Live (1975).

She played Cate Blanchett's daughter in Babel (2006) and her character as a child in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (2008). Both films also starred Brad Pitt.

Favorite tv show as a child was Strawberry Shortcake.

When her sister, Dakota Fanning, appeared on Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2003), the whole family was gifted with a matching set of pajamas. Elle's pajama suit was blue and her name was written across the back.

Graduated from Campbell Hall School, a private K-12 Episcopal day school in Los Angeles, on June 13, 2016. One of her classmates was Ariel Winter.

Parents are Joy Fanning (aka Joy Arrington Fanning) and Steven Fanning.

Although she started elementary school in 2007, she has never taken part in a school play. But she hopes she can try it out when she is in middle school.

Member of the 'Official Competition' jury at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival in 2019. As of 2019, she is the youngest person ever to serve, at age 21.

Niece of ESPN reporter Jill Arrington, and Jill's husband, Dean Panaro. Granddaughter of Mary Jane Arrington and NFL quarterback Rick Arrington.