ELLE > TIMELINE

April 1998: - Mary Elle Fanning is born on April 9.

April 1999: - Elle celebrates her first birthday in Georgia. Dakota is five years old. Later on in the year, the Fanning family move from Conyers, Georgia, to Los Angeles.

January 2001: - Filming begins for "I Am Sam" on January 25th.

February 2001: - Elle films her very first movie role, in "I Am Sam". She plays the younger version of Dakota's character, Lucy Diamond Dawson. She is 2 years, 10 months old.

January 2002: - Elle attends her first premiere with Dakota. It is for the Disney film "Snow Dogs". She is three months shy of her fourth birthday.

2002: - The episode of "Taken" that Elle appears in, as the younger version of Dakota's character Allie, is shot at Vancouver Aquarium in Canada.

August 2002: - Filming begins for "Daddy Day Care" on August 5th.

September 2002: - "Daddy Day Care" continues shooting.

October 2002: - "Daddy Day Care" continues filming, and Elle attends a Halloween party on set, where she is dressed as Little Bo Peep. She later wears the same costume to the 9th Annual Dream Halloween Benefit.

November 2002: - After three months, "Daddy Day Care" wraps near the end of November.

January 2003: - Elle films an episode of "Judging Amy". She is four and a half years old.

March 2003: - Filming begins on "The Door in the Floor" on March 31st, when Elle is just shy of her fifth birthday. This movie is shot in New York.

April 2003: - While "The Door in the Floor" is filming, Elle celebrates her fifth birthday party. The director of the film, Tod Williams, gave her a Barbie doll as a gift.

June-July 2003: - One of Dakota's films, "Man On Fire", was filming in Mexico from March through until July, and Elle visited her sister on location. The family climbed the Mexican pyramids.

September 2003: - Production begins on "Because of Winn Dixie", although Elle has not been cast yet. Filming takes play in Thibodaux, Louisiana, beginning September 22. Back home in Los Angeles, meanwhile, Elle is busy filming an episode of "CSI: Miami".

October 2003: - Elle auditions for, and is cast in "Because of Winn Dixie", as Sweetie Pie Thomas.

November 2003: - Elle begins filming her part on "Because of Winn Dixie". Later this month she attends the premiere for her big sister's movie, "The Cat in the Hat". She is five and a half years old.

December 2003: - "Because of Winn Dixie" wraps filming. Dakota and Elle celebrate Christmas at home. They appear in a magazine article explaining their favorite Christmas treats - and how they love to cook with Grandma Mary Jane.

January - October 2004: - Elle stays out of the spotlight for some time, with only some modelling work to keep her busy outside of school and play.

November 2004: - Elle books and films her role in "CSI: New York". She appears in the nineth episode of the very first season of this fledgling show. Later in the month she begins filming on "I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With".

December 2004: - "I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With" wraps in Los Angeles.

March 2005: - Filming on "Charlotte's Web" begins in Melbourne. Elle flys out with her mother, grandmother, and sister Dakota.

April 2005: Elle spends the whole of April in Melbourne. During her time there, she visits the fairy penguin colony at Phillip Island. On Saturday April 9, she celebrates her seventh birthday at Cirque Du Soleil's "Quidam".

May 2005: - The Fanning family fly home after "Charlotte's Web" wraps on May 15.

June 2005: - Elle auditions for the part of Debbie in "Babel". Another milestone is when she visits the dentist to have her very first teeth pulled. Later on this month, she travels with Dakota to New York as part of the press tour for "War of the Worlds". The girls take in a stage show of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" while they are there, on June 24.

July 2005: - The Fanning family takes some time off with a holiday to Hawaii.

August 2005: - "Babel" begins shooting in Mexico on August 15. Dakota misses out on the premiere of her film Lilo and Stitch 2 to be with her sister.

September 2005: - After six weeks shooting, Elle returns home from Mexico at the end of September. She just misses out on attending her induction into the Girl Scouts of America ceremony, held on September 22, where she is officially made a brownie. Dakota becomes a Junior Girl Scout.

October 2005: - At her first premiere in nearly two years, Elle supports her big sister Dakota's film "Dreamer" by attending the premiere and after-party. Also this month, Elle films her scene in the short film P.N.O.K. in Los Angeles.

December 2005: - Elle films a very cute part in House: MD. She is seven and a half and growing up fast.

March 2006: - Elle books and films her part in the new Tony Scott film 'Deja Vu'. She is spotted by extras during the filming at Algiers Ferry, in New Orleans.

April 2006: - Another film bears Elle's name when she films 'Day 73 With Sarah', shortly after her eighth birthday.

May 2006: - For three days, Elle shoots her scenes for John August's film "The Nines", in Los Angeles. The shoot starts May 22.

July 2006: - Elle films her scenes in 'Law and Order: SVU'. Later this month, she leaves for Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she starts filming her part in 'The Lost Room' on July 19. She is eight years old.

August 2006: - All through the beginning of August, Elle continues filming for 'The Lost Room'. Later on in the month, she auditions for an episode of 'Criminal Minds'on August 28.

September 2006: - Elle, not yet eight and a half, films a guest spot in 'Criminal Minds'. Her episode begins its filming on September 5.

October 2006: - The whole of October sees Elle busying herself with the filming of 'Reservation Road' in Connecticut. She plays Emma Learner, the daughter of Joaquin Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly.

November 2006: - Wrapping up filming on 'Reservation Road' early in the month, Elle stays at home later on while the rest of the Fanning family take a trip around the world to promote 'Charlotte's Web'.

December 2006: - After a busy year, Elle spends Christmas at home with her family. She is eight and a half. Late in the month, she also begins filming on 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' in New Orleans. She dons a red haired wig for the part of Daisy.

January 2007: - Elle starts the year in New Orleans, filming 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'. When she has finished there, she flies to Utah for the Sundance Film Festival with her sister and dad (mom stays at home). She braves the snow at Park City Mountain Resort on Jan 21, to take her very first skiing lesson, declaring skiing "the funnest thing I have ever done!!!!!!" in a blog for EW. At the festival she also busies herself with a photoshoot, schmoozing with celebs at the Hounddog Private Dinner, and a premiere for her new film, The Nines.

March 2007: - In the middle of the month Elle hightails it to NYC with her grandma for the filming of 'Dirty Sexy Money', a new pilot for ABC in which she plays the daughter of Peter Krause. She arrives home on March 28, just in time for the Kid's Choice Awards, which are held on March 31. She and her big sister make a splash when they attend the awards together in Los Angeles. Elle is seen screaming with excitement as Dakota picks up an award at the ceremony.

April 2007: - 'Vivaldi' was scheduled to begin shooting in Venice at the beginning of this month, but is later cancelled due to unknown setbacks. Elle celebrates her birthday at home in Los Angeles, turning nine years old.

May 2007: - Early in the month the Fanning sisters celebrated the third birthday of their little cousin Presley in style, treating the tyke to a day out at Disneyland. The girls get into the spirit of things, donning a pair of Mickey Mouse ears each. Later on, Elle heads to Long Island, New York, for her biggest role yet: the leading character in 'Phoebe In Wonderland', which begins shooting on May 30. The shoot is a family affair when Dakota tags along to support her sister as well.

June 2007: - Elle spends the entire month of June in the Big Apple, filming scenes for 'Phoebe In Wonderland'. On June 9 the production rolls into Douglaston, where she is snapped wearing a full Alice in Wonderland outfit, and later in the month scenes are filmed at Roanoke Elementary School in New York. There is great excitement among the students when Dakota drops in for a visit as well! Elle also takes time at a local gymnasium to rehearse her dance moves for the movie's "show stopping number".

July 2007: - After 'Phoebe in Wonderland' has wrapped, Elle heads back to LA for a brief break before heading off to Budapest for 'The Nutcracker'. There filming starts on July 16, and continues for 13 weeks.

August 2007: - Filming continues on 'Nutcracker - The Untold Story' although both Dakota and Elle have time for a brief trip to Austria. The girls are spotted in a hotel in Venice on the 12th of August.

September 2007: - Elle misses out on the Toronto Film Festival, where 'Reservation Road' premieres, as she is still tied up in the magical world of 'The Nutcracker' in Hungary.

October 2007: - The end of October sees the wrap of 'Nutcracker - The Untold Story' and Elle makes the journey home from Budapest to Los Angeles. A blogger bumps into her at a cafe, where Elle is singing to herself as she inspects the range of cakes and pies. October also sees Elle sign along the dotted line for a new movie - 'My Sister's Keeper' - an adaptation of the novel of the same name. Filming is expecting to start March 2008. Later this month she starts attending a private school for the very first time, after previously being homeschooled all her life.

January 2008: - For the second time in as many years, Elle makes an appearance at the Sundance Film Festival, this time minus Dakota (who is filming The Secret Life of Bees interstate). However, both mom and dad, as well as agent Cindy Osbrink, make the trip to Park City as Elle's support contingent. While there, Elle attends the 'Phoebe in Wonderland' premiere screening and after party, visits several environmentally friendly stalls and takes Dakota's place in Picabo Street's 2008 Celebrity Ski Challenge on January 20.

February 2008: - Elle spends a quieter month in February, and is spotted running out with her sister and friends on the 23rd for Dakota's 14th birthday. Dakota drops out of the movie 'My Sisters Keeper' and Elle follows suit, she is replaced by Abigail Breslin.

April 2008: - Elle celebrates her 10th birthday at home with friends and family on the 9th. After spending months on the shortlist for the title role in "Eloise in Paris", Elle unfortunately loses the part to Jordanna Beatty.

May 2008: - Elle signs on to be a part of Stand up 2 Cancer, a revolutionary campaign that will result in a telethon being broadcast on all major networks in America. Elle films two commercials and takes part in a photoshoot this month promoting the cause.

June 2008: - On the 28th, Elle attends the LA film festival in support of her movie Phoebe in Wonderland. Elle answers questions during a Q&A and sees the movie for a second time.

August 2008: - After a busy year so far, Elle enjoys a summer off. She joins a cheerleading camp for her school, and takes part in a photoshoot for the October issue of Teen Vogue.

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