Hannah Dakota Fanning was born on February 23, 1994 in Conyers, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, 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 salesman for an electronics firm. 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 followed soon after.

Dakota won 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. When someone asked her how she was able to cry on cue for the camera, she replied that she thought about her goldfish who had died. She said that she could relate to the role because her aunt is mentally challenged, and cited an incident where her aunt said she couldn't come to Dakota's birthday party because she had to shave her legs. 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, Uptown Girls, The Cat in the Hat and Man on Fire. 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 alien part human child Allie Keys. Other new roles were in The Cat in the Hat, Uptown Girls, Man on Fire and Hide and Seek.. Dakota's recent televison appearances, besides Taken, are in The Ellen Show, Malcolm in the Middle, and Spin City. Dakota has been interviewed on many day time and late night talk shows, such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and The Late Show with David Letterman.

Dakota indicated in an interview that she believes that aliens do exist, and that she enjoyed narrating the entire 30 hours of the unedited minseries Taken. She said that she met Steven Spielberg at the rerelease premiere of ET: The Extra Terrestial, but that he never visited the set of Taken. She 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. Dakota's favorite food is a specially prepared chicken from Panda Express, and she also likes tacos from Del Taco and Taco Bell. Dakota has learned ballet, playing the piano, speaking Spanish, expert swimming and is currently learning to ride a horse, all for her various movie roles. She was considered for the lead role in The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, but her new manager decided to have Dakota go for several other new films, such as the controversial film Hounddog, and she appeared in Nine Lives, Hide and Seek, will appear in Hurricane Mary, and starred in War of the Worlds, Dreamer, Charlotte's Web and soon to appear in The Secret Life of Bees, and Winged Creatures, all scheduled for release in 2007 or later. Dakota fans can mail letters and cards to her through her manager and agent at Dakota Fanning c/o Cindy Osbrink, Osbrink Talent Agency, 4343 Lankershim Blvd. Suite 100, Universal City, CA 91602 Her mother, Joy Fanning, recently took over the job as her manager.