Sometimes I think I might insult people by being openly flirtatious, then snatching it back.

Swain grew up with four siblings and was a student at Malibu High School. In 1993 Swain was a stunt double in the film The Good Son. In 2011 Dominique Swain appeared in Monte Hellman's romantic thriller Road to Nowhere as Nathalie Post.

She is best known for her roles as the title character in the 1997 film adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita and as Jamie Archer in the film Face/Off.