All About Elle Fanning and Dakota Fanning's Sister Relationship

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo:David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty

David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty

Elle FanningandDakota Fanning, née Mary Elle Fanning and Hannah Dakota Fanning, discovered their shared passion for acting at a young age.

The sisters used toperform elaborate scenesaround their home in Georgia, Elle toldPorterin 2019. Soon enough, Elle, now 26, and Dakota, 30, landed roles in the 2001 filmI Am Samand their careers took off from there.

Elle has found success with projects like the Disney filmMaleficentand her Hulu seriesThe Great, while Dakota is known for films such asCharlotte’s Web,The Twilight SagaandOcean’s 8.

The actresses also have their own production company,Lewellen Pictures.

In February 2025, Elle and Dakota got ready for theGolden Globestogether, which they attended with their grandmother as their date.

“Wegot ready together— all in the same room,” Elle said during a red carpet interview on E!.

So, who are Elle Fanning and Dakota Fanning? Here’s what to know about the actresses and their relationship with each other.

They’re from Georgia

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The actresses grew up in Conyers, Georgia. PertheNew York TimesMagazine, they went back and forth between Georgia and California until they permanently moved to Los Angeles when Dakota’s acting career took off at just 6 years old.

During a September 2020 interview withVanity Fair, Elle taught some Georgia slang. She explained that in Georgia, people tend to say “fall” rather than “autumn” and that Waffle House is “the best restaurant in the world” with “the best breakfast in existence.” She also mentioned that “pretty as a peach” is a great compliment and that “tea” in Georgia is synonymous with sweet tea. According to Elle, her grandmother makes the best sweet tea.

They were already performing as young children

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The actress remembered that she would often dance and sing, but Dakota wasn’t a fan. “My sister would yell at me to shut up ’cause I was singing all the time, too loud,” she told the outlet. “I had this hyper, like, ‘Whoo, I gotta go-go-go’ personality, you know? I still do.”

Dakota continued: “I just liked to play around the house and make up scenarios and my mom kind of noticed that I was disinterested in all of the lessons she put me in. I just wanted to play at home so she put me in a drama camp to see if I liked doing that.”

They have some royal ancestry

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Ancestry.com researchers found historical documents, including census, birth and death records, that the sisters are actually the 22ndgreat-granddaughters of King Edward III. They’re related to the royal family through their mother,Heather Joy Arrington.

This relation also means that the Fanning sisters are 21st cousins ofKate Middleton, the Princess of Wales. Kate’s mother,Carole Middleton, is a great-granddaughter of Edward III as well.

Dakota hates going on dates

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In October 2016, Dakota toldTown & Countrythat she doesn’t enjoy dating. “I find dates, in general, horrific,” she said. “We have to sit there and ask these questions and pretend to eat a meal, and it just feels so stiff.” She explained that she’d rather meet a potential partner through a friend because the person is “most likely not a freak.”

They’re working on a movie together

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The sisters have wanted to act together for a long time, and they have a movie in the works calledThe Nightingale.

In May 2020, Elle toldEntertainment Tonight:“It was so exciting and special to finally find a script. We’ve been looking for something for so long, and this story is completely a sister story. That’s the heart of it. What more could we ask for?”

Although the project was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Elle toldPorterin 2022 that they were deeply invested in their first time acting together. “It’s a very rare and special thing that we both do this,” she said. “We can’t have the first time over again, so we want it to be the right thing.”

A year later, Elle said thatThe Nightingalemay be “coming back around.” On the podcastHappy Sad Confused, she told hostJosh Horowitz, “I think we both would want that to be the one” to star in together.

The sisters have technically appeared in the same film before. In the 2001 movie,I Am Sam, Elle played the younger version of Dakota’s character.

They have a production company

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Elle and Dakota launched their production company, Lewellen Pictures, in March 2021, signing a first look deal with Civic Center Media and MRC Television. “We are thrilled to be launching this company together and to be teaming up with MRC who have been excellent partners onThe Great,” the sisters said in a statement. “Our goal is to tell stories, through comedy and drama, which are authentic to the human experience, and not just from our own perspective.”

Elle is a hopeless romantic

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During an April 2023 interview withHarper’s Bazaar U.K., Elle confirmed that she and her boyfriend of five years,Max Minghella, hadrecently split. Nevertheless, she still considered herself a “hopeless romantic.”

“I believe in love at first sight,” the actress said. “Call me crazy, but I believe in those things. I feel that it’s my destiny.”

They both have brand partnerships

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Elle and Dakota each partner with brands and post promotional content on their Instagram pages, where they have millions of followers.

Dakota is a brand ambassador for the skincare and makeup brand Clé de Peau Beauté. On May 2, 2023, she posted aphoto of herselfwith one of its products, and wrote in the caption, “The Concentrated Brightening Serum from @cledepeaubeaute gives me the perfect glow for summer!”

Dakota also gave aglowing reviewof its product La Crème. “I have noticed such a difference in the hydration of my skin, the way that I wake up looking more refreshed, and plumper, and more glowy,” she said in a video.

Elle is a global ambassador for the French jewelry company Cartier and the face of its Grain de Café collection. “

Cartier has my heart forever,” she wrote in a June 2023Instagram post. “This campaign is a dream come true and the new stunning #graindecafé collection is modernized while still nodding to the history of the past.”

She also promotedPaco Rabanne’s fragrance Fame inseveral different postsin 2022.

They share a special bond

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In the July/August 2019 issue ofShape, Dakota opened up about herrelationship with her sister. “My sister, Elle, and I are really close,” she said. “We always have been. We’re very different, but we’re very connected. We don’t talk every day, but we don’t have to. We just have that special bond.”

During her May 2020 interview withET, Elle shared a similar sentiment. “Your sister knows you more than anyone,” she said. “I mean, she can sniff anything out of you. She can push your buttons more than anybody. That dynamic is so special and unique. They know your family more than anybody.”

Elle emphasized, “She is my closest person.”

source: people.com