Real-life sisters Dakota and Elle Fanning will come together to portray siblings in Melanie Laurent’s World War II drama The Nightingale.
The celebrity sisters have acted in the same movies before, lending their voices to the English-dubbed version of My Neighbor Totoro, and appearing alongside each other in I Am Sam as children. They will both be reunited (onscreen that is) Laurent’s adaptation of Kristin Hannah’s WWII novel from 2015.
The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters separated by years and experience, by ideals, passions, and circumstances, each embarking on a dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied war-torn France.
The plot is inspired by the courageous women of the French Resistance who helped defeat downed Allied airmen escape Nazi-occupied territory, and hid Jewish children.
The upcoming film was set to be the theatrical film debut of Michelle MacLaren but she left the project for unknown reasons, giving Laurent the opportunity to helm the movie.
Dakota Fanning (born February 23, 1994) rose to prominence at the age of seven for playing Lucy Dawson in the drama film I Am Sam (2001).
For her performance in the above movie, Dakota received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination at age eight, making her the youngest nominee in SAG history.
Dakota has played major roles in several movies, including Uptown Girls (2003), Man on Fire (2004), and Charlotte’s Web (2006).
Elle Fanning was born on April 9, 1998, and is best known for her works in independent movies, and as the character Aurora in Disney’s Maleficent films.
She made her film debut as the younger version of her sister’s character in I Am Sam and got her breakthrough in 2011 in J.J. Abrams’ Super 8.
Her role in Super 8 earned her critical praise and she won a Spotlight Award at the Hollywood Film Festival.
Elle has had leading roles in We Bought A Zoo (2011), Maleficent (2014), Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019), and All The Bright Places (2020).
