Mary Elle Fanning (born April 9, 1998) is an American actress. She made her film debut as the younger version of her sister Dakota Fanning's character in the drama film I Am Sam (2001). As a child actress, she appeared in several films, including Babel (2006),...

Following Maleficent, Fanning began working in independent cinema, collaborating with auteurs in lead and supporting roles in films such as Nicolas Winding Refn's The Neon Demon (2016), Mike Mills' 20th Century Women (2016), Sofia Coppola's The Beguiled (2017), John Cameron Mitchell's How to Talk to Girls at Parties (2017), Woody Allen's A Rainy Day in New York (2019), and Sally Potter's The Roads Not Taken (2020). In 2019, aged 21, she became the youngest person to serve as a jury member at the Cannes Film Festival. She plays Empress Catherine II in the Hulu series The Great (2020–present), for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series nomination as well as two Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy nominations and three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. In 2022 she starred as Michelle Carter in the Hulu limited series The Girl from Plainville.