Dakota Fanning Turns 16: Hollywood's Shortest Retrospective

By Steven Avalos Posted Feb 23rd 2010 05:15PM

Can you believe America's little sweetheart is now a budding 16-year-old bona fide movie star? We can't either! Seems like just yesterday Dakota Fanning was Sean Penn's cute little gap-toothed daughter in 'I Am Sam' or the late Brittany Murphy's greatest challenge in 2003's 'Uptown Girls'.

So how has this child star slowly but surely become one of Hollywood's greatest and prolific talents? Read the full story after the jump.

Fanning's first acting gig was in a 1999 Tide commercial, which led to some guest spot work on various television shows like 'Spin City' and 'CSI.' Then she landed her first major movie role in 'I Am Sam' and the rest is history. Little known fact: Fanning received a Screen Actors Guild nomination for her performance in 'Sam', the youngest in the history of the organization. Some career highlights:

'I Am Sam' (2001)

Dakota played Lucy Dawson, the daughter of a mentally challenged man (played by Sean Penn) who fights for custody of her.

'Taken' (2002)

Dakota starred in this Steven Spielberg produced science fiction miniseries as a key character at the center of a family's secret extraterrestrial history.

'Uptown Girls' (2003)

Starring alongside Brittany Murphy, Fanning proved if there's one thing she's good at it's being precocious.

'The Cat In The Hat' (2003)

Dakota brought the character of Sally to life in Mike Meyer's retelling of Dr. Seuss' classic children's book (not to be confused with Taylor Momsen who played Cindy Lou Who opposite Jim Carey in 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas').

'War of The Worlds' (2005) and 'Hide and Seek' (2005)

2005 was a big year for Fanning as she ventured into increasingly blockbuster-ier movies, starring opposite Robert DeNiro in the creepy 'Hide and Seek' as the token supernaturally intuitive child and running alongside Tom Cruise for 2+ hours in the explosive 'War of The Worlds'.

'Hounddog' (2007)

We're gonna go out on a limb and bet that there were more people outraged by this movie than the amount that actually went and saw it. Yes, this is that infamous movie where Fanning's character gets raped, which proves you're never too young to take risks with your career.

'The Secret Life of Bees' (2008)

Dakota continues to make interesting choices with this film based on the bestselling novel by Sue Monk Kidd, starring alongside Oscar winning actresses Queen Latifah and Jennifer Hudson.

'New Moon' (2009)

We were definitely scratching our heads when we first heard about Dakota being cast in the role of evil Vampire "Jane" in this Twilight Saga sequel, but that's only because her work had been so "adult" up until then. Let's not forget that the actress is only a teenager after all and wouldn't any self respecting teenage girl just die at the chance of seeing Robert Pattinson shirtless? Let alone getting paid to? Yeah, we thought so.

'The Runaways' (2010)

Starring alongside Kristen Stewart, Fanning's much anticipated portrayal of The Runaways' lead singer, Cherie Currie, is coming soon to a theater near you.

Tags: dakota fanning, runaways, twilight

Comments

(11)

Tuesday 23 February

By Andi

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Um...you forgot "Dreamer". I don't know about everyone else but everyone I know loved that movie myself included. It also seemed to have given her a pretty big jump in her career.

By julie

Happy birthday...

By oldboy643

HAPPY SWEET SIXTEEN D F

By utgraddad

I just love this young actress - she stole my heart in "Man on Fire" - I wish her a Happy Sweet Sixteen - and plan on enjoying her in many more movies. I thinks she has a bright future.

By steffenjobbs

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Dakota was a cute little girl. I wonder how cute she'll be in a few years from now.

Wednesday 24 February

By crazyJoc

Yeah your right they forgot "Man on Fire" and "Dreamer" I guess what the writer is politely saying is that she had better roles when she was little and she is struggling with making the transition from child actress to adult.I agree.Happy Birthday

By Reena

She's a wonderful actress, even at 5 yrs old! I can imagine, she will just get better.
And she's never in the tabloids, so she must be doing something right in her personal life as well.
I wish her the best!

By alan currran

hey steffenjobs, lighten up. this is one talented actress, she plays parts that let everyone know she has the smarts to stay focused. loved her adult like presence in hounddog. shows maturity beyond 16.

By susie

I told my husband back in 2002 This lil girl is gonna be a Movie Star when she grows up. She is so good....HAPPY BIRTHDAY...

By Pop Tart Diva

From that Runaways movie photo, did Dakota turn out kinda funny like child actress Jodie Foster?

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