Elle Fanning's Jaw-Dropping Hollywood Transformation

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Despite being so young, Elle Fanning has already worked hard for decades to become a hugely successful model and A-List actor with both Oscar and Golden Globe nominations to her name. "I've been known since I was about two, when I first started working in film, so there's no 'before' [fame] for me," she told Elle Canada of her stunning, yet very public, transformation. "Fame is an interesting concept that I try to maintain a healthy relationship with — thanks in large part to my parents, my big sister, Dakota [Fanning], and my friends," she added.

That's perhaps what's most impressive about Elle though. Despite the height of her fame, rubbing shoulders with major stars daily, and reaching multi-millionaire status before her 30th birthday, she's still so down to earth. Her kind nature and grounded demeanor has enamored millions of fans (more than 7 million followers on Instagram alone) and was on display during her 2023 Harper's Bazaar U.K. interview when she explained her mantra for movie making. "The crew and cast's experience matters — being nice and getting close to the people you work with enriches your own experience as much as theirs," she said. And taking a deep dive into Elle's jaw-dropping Hollywood evolution only uncovers more about how she became such a stunning, well-rounded woman.

Elle Fanning was born in Georgia in 1998 to Steven Fanning and Hannah Fanning (nee Joy Arrington). She landed her first acting gig two years later with a little help from her older sister, Dakota Fanning. Elle appeared in the movie "I Am Sam" as a younger version of Dakota, who was already cast in the project. Elle joked about her career beginnings on "Q With Tom Power" in 2025, sharing, "I call myself a nepo sibling ... [The crew] said, 'Oh, you look like Dakota, obviously. We need a flashback scene of someone playing Dakota young.'" Though Elle didn't remember much about life on set back then, it put a career as an actor very much on her radar. "I just saw Dakota doing it. I'm like, 'I want to do this too.' And all we wanted to do was play pretend and dress up and put on these scenes and scenarios around the house," she said.

Around the same time, the Fanning family left Georgia and moved to Los Angeles to accommodate Dakota's promising career. But Elle didn't become detached from reality in the bright lights of Hollywood as the family courted fame. "I was home schooled and then I wanted to go to regular school, so my mom put me in regular school and I got to do all the normal social things and have friends that were my age, rather than just be around adults all the time," she told British Vogue. The future actor was also given the freedom to experiment with her style. "My mom's always let me be creative and wear what I want. I've gone vintage shopping since I was young," she said.

Now living full-time in Los Angeles, a young Elle Fanning got more serious about her acting career. In 2003, Elle appeared in the likes of Eddie Murphy's "Daddy Day Care," "CSI: Miami," and "Judging Amy" — but the little girl's career wasn't without setbacks. She told PorterEdit she auditioned to play one of the triplets Lisa Kudrow's Phoebe Buffay gave birth to in for "Friends." "I didn't get it and I was like, 'I'm boycotting the show, I'm never watching this again,'" she recalled, admitting she was livid when Dakota Fanning went on to book a role on the sitcom (via People).

But Elle didn't let the disappointment dictate the rest of her career. "My parents instilled the importance of dedication in us — work hard for what you want, always show up on time, reinvigorate yourself constantly," she said to Harper's Bazaar U.K. In 2005, she starred in the movie "Because of Winn-Dixie," before making single episode appearances in the likes of "House M.D." and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." Her roles were getting bigger though and, in 2006, she appeared in multiple episodes of "The Lost Room" and "Criminal Minds."

The youngster also started becoming familiar with red carpets and, though she was still so young, began developing her own style. "I did my first major premiere when I was 12. I was very girly, supercutesy, with bows and poufy dresses. I will always be a 'pink girl,'" she told Teen Vogue.

Elle Fanning had been acting for 11 years when she finally landed the Hollywood role widely considered her breakthrough. The 13-year-old appeared in the J.J. Abrams-directed "Super 8," which helped her become a household name. Abrams was full of praise for the young star while speaking to People a decade later, sharing, "When we cast this movie and she came in, she was so immediately just transfixing ... She is really a truly remarkable actor. Even back then she was." The movie saw Elle nominated for multiple awards, including for Best Young Actor/Actress at the 2012 Critics Choice Awards and Breakthrough Performance at the MTV Movie Awards.

As Elle's star power grew, so did the focus on her style. Elle opened up about the start of her style transformation during a 2011 cover shoot for Teen Vogue, sharing, "I think [my style] would be quirky, sort of, like, offbeat. I love the '70s. I'm very into that right now ... I like to be very girly with bows and ruffles on the red carpet." She showed her feminine fashion flair that same year during her first Met Gala, which she attended at just 13. "I met Beyoncé and I was so starstruck," she recalled to British Vogue.

The following year, Elle experienced a daunting milestone for any young actor — kissing on screen. The star admitted on "The Late Late Show" that the kissing scene in "Ginger & Rosa" wasn't only scary because it involved a lip lock, but because it was her first kiss ever. "My first kiss is on screen for eternity. I can watch my first kiss happen. It's sweet, a bit embarrassing, but sweet," she said.

Elle Fanning experienced a dream come true around 2014 when she teamed up with Disney. Elle was cast as Aurora (aka Sleeping Beauty) in "Maleficent." The fantasy movie saw the teenager act alongside Angelina Jolie and grossed more than $758 million at the global box office. Elle told Cineworld she had a personal connection to the movie, sharing, "I love the animated movie! That was one of my favourite [sic] movies growing up. I loved Aurora so much. I'm getting to play a princess — which I never would have thought!" She also told Teen Vogue, "When they asked me to play her, that was insane, you know? When I was little I wanted to be a Disney princess, and now I can say that my dream came true and I've become a Disney princess." Elle also got candid about how starring in the fantasy blockbuster bolstered her career, recalling on Instagram, "At age 14 I received a phone call that changed my life."

The movie opened major doors for the actor and only intensified the spotlight already on her. Though she was still a teen, amid her big new role, she began embracing more grown-up, designer fashion choices. "I am starting to like long dresses or silkier ones. Not tight, just a little more... formfitting?" she told Teen Vogue. "I wear a lot of Miu Miu, Prada, Valentino. I like Céline. Rodarte."

Though Elle Fanning's career had been going from strength to strength in the 2010s, she experienced what was surely a rough time in 2018 when her parents split. She'd previously gushed to Refinery29 about how happy she was that her mom and dad were still together, sharing in 2014, "People will ask if I believe in love at first sight, and I honestly do. Because my parents have known each other since second grade and they're still together. So, I believe in it because it's a part of me." Her dad, Steven Fanning, had previously filed for divorce from Heather Fanning in 2016 but, that time, they called off their divorce and got back together. In August 2018 though, The Blast confirmed he'd filed again and they'd reached a "marital settlement agreement" that prevented the details of their split being made public. 

Elle and Dakota Fanning confirmed they were still close with their mom, but implied they didn't have the strongest relationship with their dad post-split. When asked by Vanity Fair during a joint 2025 interview about their connection with their father, Dakota responded, "I don't think we should go there. It is a longer story that I just don't think we feel comfortable to share."

But, despite the upheaval, Elle was still focused on her career. And not just acting. In March 2018, the star made her debut as a runway model and walked at Paris Fashion Week as part of Miu Miu's Fall/Winter 2018/2019 show. The following September, she was back in the French capital to walk the runway for L'Oreal Paris.

2019 was a big year of firsts for Elle Fanning. She made history when she became youngest juror in the history of the Cannes Film Festival. "I was in complete shock when I got that phone call and that question if I wanted to be a member of the Cannes Jury," she said at a press conference (via Variety). But she knew that, despite being young, she could take on the responsibility. "I started acting when I was young and been on a lot of movie sets. I feel just really honored and I feel proud to represent a young voice in the festival," she said.

The young actor also appeared in her first sequel when she returned to the "Maleficent" universe to reprise her role as Aurora in "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil," which saw Elle take method dressing to the next level. She posted a poignant Instagram message about what appearing in the movie alongside Angelina Jolie and Michelle Pfeiffer meant to her. "Premiering the sequel last night made me feel all the feels. Standing proud with [two] women I look up to in every way, knowing we created [three] powerful characters who use their strength in different ways. I still have goosebumps!" she wrote.

Elle Fanning's acting career took a new direction in 2020 when, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hulu historical comedy show "The Great" began airing. Elle appeared as Empress Catherine II (aka Catherine the Great) of Russia and co-produced the series, and the show received major critical acclaim. Elle was nominated for her first Golden Globe award for Best Actress — Television Series Musical or Comedy category (an award she'd been nominated for again in 2022 and 2024). The Georgia native was also nominated at the 2022 Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

Despite taking on countless projects since the age of 2, Elle told Elle Canada her role in "The Great" was one of her favorites. "Embodying [Catherine the Great] in that series changed my life. Through the role, I feel like people have come to see me for who I am," she explained. The star also opened up to I-D about how she felt a deep kinship with the character through similar feelings and experiences. "She was seen as this young, innocent, slightly naïve, romantic girl that then becomes the leader of Russia. Not that I'm the leader of Hollywood, but her confidence grew, and our lives were mirroring each other. I wasn't even aware of it, but she was becoming me, and I was her," she said.

Though Elle Fanning and Dakota Fanning had purposefully kept their work separate for years, the famous siblings came together in 2021 for a new project unlike anything they'd done before: launching their own production company. "We are thrilled to be launching this company together ... Our goal is to tell stories, through comedy and drama, which are authentic to the human experience, and not just from our own perspective. We also want to create content that we wouldn't be able to make just as actors," the sisters said in a statement of Lewellen Pictures (via Deadline). Elle told Flaunt the move was also partly inspired by her shock after she worked with a male actor who had never appeared in a project helmed by a female director. "With our company we try to have female writers and directors to tell any story — not just female-driven ones," she explained.

Elle also opened up to Vanity Fair about why she and Dakota felt it was the right time for them to come together. "When we were younger, we wanted to make sure that people saw us differently, and we wanted to give each other space to carve our own path," she said. "But as adults, it's been very fulfilling to merge."

Elle Fanning added another string to her bow in 2023 when she teamed up with luxury fashion house Paco Rabanne as the face of its Fame fragrance. The team-up included some seriously glam photoshoots that saw Elle tap into her modeling skills again and demonstrated her ever evolving style. "I'm very feminine, but also, at the same time, I like things that are a bit edgy and hard too," she told Vogue that year.

Amid her glam new gig, Elle was also finding her voice as a young woman after entering her mid-20s. "For a while, I'd be like, 'Oh well, I'm young, people don't necessarily want to listen to me, they probably know more anyway.' But there comes a point when you register that you've been doing this for 20 years. I may not always have the answer, but I've realised that sometimes you do have to have a little bit of that [Catherine the Great] ego and say, 'Listen to me!'" she told Harper's Bazaar U.K. Elle was embracing more transformation in her life too, spurred on by her growing confidence. "I haven't always gone for certain things, but that's changing. Maybe if I want to direct something, or try something else, I can make it happen," she said.

2023 also brought new challenges to the star's door when "The Great" ended after three seasons. Elle shared an emotional Instagram post addressing its cancelation. "This show has meant the world to me," she wrote in part, while sharing how proud she was of the work she'd done.

Though Elle Fanning shied away from publicly sharing big relationship details in the past, she proudly let the world know she was loved up with Rolling Stone CEO Gus Wenner. Page Six spotted the two holding hands on what appeared to be a date in 2023, and they went red carpet official at the 2024 Golden Globe Awards — the same year Elle wore some iconic looks to promote "A Complete Unknown." The star also invited the public into her love life via social media, as she she often shared sweet personal photos with her man.

In 2026, Elle made it clear she was very much in love and planning her future with Wenner while chatting with Who What Wear. "He's the best. We want to be a part of each other's lives and share these fun times and experiences together ... Why hide? The future looks bright," she said, revealing they were splitting time between L.A. and New York and looking to flip a home together.

2025 brought exciting news for fans of the Fanning sisters when it was confirmed Elle Fanning and Dakota Fanning would act alongside one another for the first time in a movie adaptation of Kristin Hannah's "The Nightingale." "For years, we have looked for a film to do with one another and then this gem appeared," they said of the project, which has a 2027 release date and will be co-produced by Reese Witherspoon, who has her own book club and podcast.

And the major career milestones kept on coming. By 2026, Elle was officially an Oscar nominee. The star received the major honor for the movie "Sentimental Value" and shared a sweet message and image on Instagram that showed her wiping away tears on a FaceTime call. "IS THIS REAL!?!?!?! IS THIS A DREAM!?!?!?! I can't catch my breath. I am in absolute shock," she wrote, sharing she celebrated with her mom, grandma, aunt, and Dakota Fanning. The comment section was full of praise for the star, with Dakota telling her sister, "I am the proudest sister today and every day. My best friend. My person. I love you."

But Elle knows happiness isn't all wrapped up in her career. Also in 2026, the year we gave Elle a style resolution, she opened up about her desire to start a family. "I definitely do want kids. I've always wanted kids. I've known that since I was little," she told Who What Wear. And there's little doubt that if motherhood is Elle's next chapter, she'll expertly find a way to balance her blossoming career with being an amazing mom.