Read our Review of War of the Worlds

At such a young age Dakota has starred with some of Hollywood's top stars including Oscar winners Sean Penn and Denzel Washington; she has earnt herself many awards including a Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in 'I am Sam' (She is the youngest person ever to be nominated for an SAG) and a MTV Movie Award for Best Frightened Performance in 'Hide and Seek'.

Dakota with Tom Cruise in War of the Worlds

Dakota has earnt the praise of her famous costars Tom Cruise said "She's just lovely. She's just enormously talented and so fun to work with also. Steve and I had so much fun. It was her birthday and we had pink balloons and Cold Stone Creamery ice cream. You can have a laugh with her too. She's a unique talent. She's just a really terrific person. She has impeccable manners too. She'd write thank you letters and it's just very sincere." Denzel Washington raved about how amazing she is to watch. and Steven Spielberg was impressed with what a down to earth and nice young girl she was "All my kids are huge fans of hers. My little girls were sending her notes and she was answering every one of them and sending them right back through me. We had a whole mail service going between my two daughters and Dakota the whole movie."

Dakota lives with her parents and younger sister Elle, with whom she shares a room, and her goldfish Flounder. Dispite the amazing success she's having in her career she still manages to remain and grounded and like any other girl her age, "When I go home, I play with my baby dolls and strollers and stuffed animals, pretend like they're real dogs."

Dakota in War of the Worlds

You could say Dakota is somewhat of a child prodigy, she began reading at the age of two and has no difficulty learning her lines in films. She plays the violin and does ballet.

What some of Dakota's other costars have said about her:

"She is extraordinary at being 9. She loves life, she loves childhood, she is such a kindred spirit, ball of sunshine, energetic joy. She also has a very old soul, and she is extremely wise, and so bright, sharp, and intelligent. She's just one of the greatest, most balanced, grounded humans I've ever met in my entire life. I love her.." - Brittany Murphy (Uptown Girls)

"I'm happily upstaged by them. Spencer's a boy genius and little Dakota's a combination of Judy Garland in Wizard Of Oz and Meryl Streep. She's so sweet you just want to bite her face. Not break the skin - just gnaw." - Mike Myers (Cat in the Hat)

"I got along great with Dakota. Dakota was a great girl to work with. She was always very prepared." - Spencer Breslin (Cat in the Hat)

"The lesson that I hope everyone will learn when they see the movie is that it doesn't matter what car you drive and what apartment or house you live in, or even what you look like on the outside.It just matters what your heart looks like. [It's about] your ability to love." says Dakota.

Purchase Dakota DVDs from Amazon.com

With so many succesful films under her belt such as 'Uptown Girls', 'Trapped', 'I am Sam', 'Man on Fire', 'Hide and Seek', and 'War of the Worlds' Dakota has no plans of stopping anytime soon. She has completed work on 'Lilo and Stitch 2: Stitch has a Glitch' in which she will be doing the voice of Lilo, she stars as Cale Crane in 'Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story' alongside Kurt Russell, both films come out later this year. And in 2006 she will star in 'Charlotte's Web'. There has also been talk of Dakota starring in an upcoming production of 'Alice in and Wonderland' and it's sequel 'Through the looking glass'.

For more on Dakota visit the fantastic fansite on the net since 2002 Lovely Dakota