Today's birthday, April 9
Today's birthday, April 9: American teen actress Elle Fanning (1998-)
Born with a distinguishable Hollywood surname, American teenage actress Elle Fanning has spent almost all of her short life on the silver screen.
Mary Elle Fanning was born on April 9, 1998 in Conyers, Georgia.
Known in Hollywood by her second name, Elle, she quickly took to acting like a duck to water.
At age 3, she starred as the younger version of her famous sister, Dakota's character, in I Am Sam (2001), and again the following year in Taken (2002).
Her first solo film break came in 2003, when she appeared alongside Eddie Murphy in the family comedy film Daddy Day Care.
This lead to a string of other film roles, including as Sweetie Pie Thomas in the comedy drama Because of Winn-Dixie (2005).
Fanning also appeared in the independent film I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (2006), written and directed by her Daddy Day Care co-star Jeff Garlin.
Despite endless comparisons to her sister, Fanning's early success was proof she could withstand the pressures of Hollywood fame.
In 2011, she played a love-struck young girl alongside acting heavyweights Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson in the American drama film We Bought A Zoo.
That same year, Fanning starred in Sofia Coppola's film Somewhere (2011).
She won Young Hollywood's Actress of the Year award for her performance.
Fanning is also recognised for her quirky sense of style, frequently donning embellished outfits on the red carpet from designers including Valentino and Erdem.
Most recently, she starred opposite Angelina Jolie as Princess Aurora in Maleficent (2014), a dark fantasy re-imagining of Disney film Sleeping Beauty (1958).
She will also appear in Trumbo, a film about the life of Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, due to be released in November this year.
