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We've all watched Dakota Fanning grow up on the big screen.
The talented actress began her career at just the age of five and quickly was starring opposite Sean Penn in the Oscar-nominated 'I Am Sam.' She would go on in her youth to appear in such films as 'Man on Fire' opposite Denzel Washington, 'War of the Worlds' opposite Tom Cruise, 'Hide and Seek' opposite Robert De Niro and the big screen adaption of Dr. Seuss' 'The Cat in the Hat.'
As an adult, Fanning has continued to appear in high profile movies like 'The Runaways' with Kristen Stewart, 'Ocean's Eight,' with Sandra Bullock, and Quentin Tarantino's 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' playing Squeaky Fromme, as well as having a role in 'The Twilight Saga.' Most recently, she reunited with her 'Man on Fire' co-star Denzel Washington for 'The Equalizer 3'.
Her new film, 'The Watchers' opens in theaters on June 7th and was written and directed by Ishana Night Shyamalan, the daughter of filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan.
In honor of the new film, Moviefone is counting down the 20 best movies of Dakota Fanning's career, including her latest.
Let's begin!
20. 'Ocean's Eight' (2018)
Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock), a criminal mastermind, gathers a crew of female thieves to pull off the heist of the century at New York's annual Met Gala.
19. 'The Secret Life of Bees' (2008)
Set in South Carolina in 1964, this is the tale of Lily Owens (Fanning) a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother. To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father, Lily flees with Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson), her caregiver and only friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother's past.
18. 'Charlotte's Web' (2006)
Wilbur (Dominic Scott Kay) the pig is scared of the end of the season, because he knows that come that time, he will end up on the dinner table. He hatches a plan with Charlotte (Julia Roberts), a spider that lives in his pen, to ensure that this will never happen.
17. 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon' (2009)
Forks, Washington resident Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is reeling from the departure of her vampire love, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), and finds comfort in her friendship with Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), a werewolf. But before she knows it, she's thrust into a centuries-old conflict, and her desire to be with Edward at any cost leads her to take greater and greater risks.
16. 'The Benefactor' (2015)
A newly married couple (Fanning and Theo James) are forced to navigate the all-consuming interest of a powerful, mysterious, and possessive philanthropist.
15. 'War of the Worlds' (2005)
Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a divorced dockworker and less-than-perfect father. Soon after his ex-wife (Miranda Otto) and her new husband drop off his teenage son (Justin Chatwin) and young daughter (Fanning) for a rare weekend visit, a strange and powerful lightning storm touches down.
14. 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2' (2012)
After the birth of Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy), the Cullens gather other vampire clans in order to protect the child from a false allegation that puts the family in front of the Volturi.
13. 'The Last of Robin Hood' (2014)
Errol Flynn (Kevin Kline), the swashbuckling Hollywood star and notorious ladies man, flouted convention all his life, but never more brazenly than in his last years when, swimming in vodka and unwilling to face his mortality, he undertook a liaison with an aspiring actress, Beverly Aadland (Fanning). The two had a high-flying affair that spanned the globe and was enabled by the girl's fame-obsessed mother, Florence. It all came crashing to an end in October 1959, when events forced the relationship into the open, sparking an avalanche of publicity castigating Beverly and her mother (Susan Sarandon) - which only fed Florence's need to stay in the spotlight.
12. 'American Pastoral' (2016)
Set in postwar America, a man (Ewan McGregor) watches his seemingly perfect life fall apart as his daughter's (Fanning) new political affiliation threatens to destroy their family.
11. 'Uptown Girls' (2003)
Molly Gunn (Brittany Murphy), the freewheeling daughter of a deceased rock legend, is forced to get a job when her manager steals her money. As nanny for precocious Ray (Fanning), the oft ignored daughter of a music executive she learns what it means to be an adult while teaching Ray how to be a child.
10. 'The Watchers' (2024)
When 28-year-old artist Mina (Fanning) finds shelter after getting stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland, she unknowingly becomes trapped alongside three strangers that are watched and stalked by mysterious creatures each night.
9. 'The Cat in the Hat' (2003)
During a rainy day, and while their mother is out, Conrad (Spencer Breslin) and Sally (Fanning), and their pet fish, are visited by the mischievous Cat in the Hat (Mike Myers). Fun soon turns to mayhem, and the siblings must figure out how to rid themselves of the maniacal Cat.
8. 'Push' (2009)
After his father, an assassin, is brutally murdered, Nick Gant (Chris Evans) vows revenge on Division, the covert government agency that dabbles in psychic warfare and experimental drugs. Hiding in Hong Kong's underworld, Nick assembles a band of rogue psychics dedicated to destroying Division. Together with Cassie (Fanning), a teenage clairvoyant, Nick goes in search of a missing girl and a stolen suitcase that could be the key to accomplishing their mutual goal.
7. 'Hide and Seek' (2005)
David Callaway (Robert De Niro) tries to piece together his life in the wake of his wife's suicide and has been left to raise his nine-year-old daughter, Emily (Fanning) on his own. David is at first amused to discover that Emily has created an imaginary friend named 'Charlie', but it isn't long before 'Charlie' develops a sinister and violent side, and as David struggles with his daughter's growing emotional problems, he comes to the frightening realization that 'Charlie' isn't just a figment of Emily's imagination.
6. 'Coraline' (2009)
A young girl (Fanning) discovers an idealized parallel universe behind a secret door in her new home, unaware that it contains a sinister secret.
5. 'The Equalizer 3' (2003)
Since giving up his life as a government assassin, Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) has struggled to reconcile the horrific things he’s done in the past and finds a strange solace in serving justice on behalf of the oppressed. Finding himself surprisingly at home in Southern Italy, he discovers his new friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall knows what he has to do: become his friends’ protector by taking on the mafia.
4. 'I Am Sam' (2001)
Sam (Sean Penn), a neurodivergent man, has a daughter with a homeless woman who abandons them when they leave the hospital, leaving Sam to raise Lucy (Fanning) on his own. But as Lucy grows up, Sam's limitations as a parent start to become a problem and the authorities take her away. Sam convinces high-priced lawyer Rita (Michelle Pfeiffer) to take his case pro bono and in turn teaches her the value of love and family.
3. 'The Runaways' (2010)
Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) and Cherie Currie (Fanning), two rebellious teenagers from Southern California, become the frontwomen for the Runaways -- the now-legendary group that paved the way for future generations of female rockers. Under the Svengali-like influence of impresario Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon), the band becomes a huge success.
2. 'Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood' (2019)
Los Angeles, 1969. TV star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), a struggling actor specializing in westerns, and stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), his best friend, try to survive in a constantly changing movie industry. Dalton is the neighbor of the young and promising actress and model Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), who has just married the prestigious Polish director Roman Polanski (Rafał Zawierucha).
1. 'Man on Fire' (2004)
Jaded ex-CIA operative John Creasy (Washington) reluctantly accepts a job as the bodyguard for a 10-year-old girl (Fanning) in Mexico City. They clash at first, but eventually bond, and when she's kidnapped he's consumed by fury and will stop at nothing to save her life.
