Best Known As: Olive in the movie Little Miss Sunshine
Abigail Breslin is the Oscar-nominated youngster who played Olive in the 2006 comedy Little Miss Sunshine (also starring Alan Arkin and Steve Carell). A veteran of TV commercials, she made her movie debut as Mel Gibson's water-drinking daughter in M. Night Shyamalan's Signs (2002). She has since guest-starred on TV shows, appeared several times on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and played supporting roles in the feature films Raising Helen (2004, starring Kate Hudson), Keane (2004), The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006) and No Reservations (2007, with Catherine Zeta-Jones). The success of Little Miss Sunshine sent Breslin to the top of heap for child actors, and she's since co-starred with Catherine Zeta-Jones (in 2007's No Reservations) and Ryan Reynolds (in 2008's Definitely, Maybe), and had leading roles in Kitt Kittredge: An American Girl (2008) and My Sister's Keeper (2009, with Cameron Diaz).
Breslin co-starred in Raising Helen with her brother, actor Spencer Breslin.
Career Highlights: Zombieland, Little Miss Sunshine, Keane
First Major Screen Credit: Signs (2002)
Biography
The younger sister of child thespian Spencer Breslin (Disney's the Kid, The Santa Clause 2, The Shaggy Dog), the dynamic young actress Abigail Breslin was born in Manhattan in 1996 and began shooting television commercials at the age of three. In 2001, Tamil-American director and Spielberg protégé M. Night Shyamalan discovered then five-year-old Breslin and brought about her movie debut by casting her in his sci-fi thriller Signs -- the tale of a farmer and pastor (Mel Gibson) who discovers a giant crop circle on his property as an early indicator of an extraterrestrial invasion. Breslin plays Bo Hess, Gibson's asthma-ridden, paranoiac daughter who is racked by the delusion that she must never drink water, for every glass in the house is now contaminated. The terror evident in this characterization was not unique. From an early age, the pint-sized Breslin became notorious for her preternatural ability to pour an extraordinary amount of emotional intensity into each role, which led to several challenging parts that Breslin pulled off with ease. The first of these turns, 2004's sadly overlooked Keane, is a harrowing drama about a drug- and alcohol-riddled schizophrenic named William Keane (Damian Lewis), obsessed with attempting to find his young daughter, who may never have even existed. Amy Ryan and Breslin play, respectively, Lynn Bedik and Kira Bedik, a mother and daughter who wander into William's life and concurrently raise, within him, a towering fear of himself and the capacity for emotional connection. The New York Post's V.A. Musetto called Breslin "a revelation."
After light-hearted turns in Garry Marshall's terribly received Raising Helen (which marked the first onscreen pairing of Breslin and her older brother) and David S. Cass' little-seen domestic comedy Family Plan (2005), Breslin signed on as the central character in Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton's Little Miss Sunshine. This road comedy -- about a severely dysfunctional family that bands together and treks off to the titular children's beauty pageant in which young Olive (Breslin) is participating -- unexpectedly dazzled viewers with its acerbic wit, flashes of wild humor, exemplary characterizations, and touching insights into familial relationships, when it premiered in summer 2006. In fact, it became, hands down, one of the most significant sleeper hits of that year. Thanks in no small part to her mature evocation of sweet-natured, pure-hearted Olive (who elevates the film to new levels not only by strengthening family ties, but by performing an outrageous final dance number in the beauty pageant), Breslin became one of the youngest individuals in Hollywood history to receive a Best Supporting Actress nod when the Oscar nominations rolled around in January 2007 -- younger, by seven months, than Tatum O'Neal, during her Oscar win in early 1974. Meanwhile, Breslin signed on for several additional roles alongside her studies. These included Zoe, the niece of Catherine Zeta-Jones's character in Scott Hicks' romantic comedy No Reservations (a remake of the German film Mostly Martha); a sick child befriended by a lonely, itinerant young man (Drew Fuller) in Michael O. Sajbel's The Ultimate Gift; and the confused, inquisitive 11-year-old daughter of a political consultant (Ryan Reynolds) in Adam Brooks' romantic comedy Definitely, Maybe (2008). ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
Prior to her star-making turn in Little Miss Sunshine, Breslin appeared in the films Signs (2002), Raising Helen (in which Breslin and her brother Spencer played siblings), The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (which Spencer also appeared in), Keane, Chestnut: Hero of Central Park, and The Family Plan. In 2004 she made a guest appearance on the television show NCIS, playing the role of a Navy Captain's blind daughter. In 2006, she starred in the comedy-drama Little Miss Sunshine, playing a beauty pageant contestant, the youngest in a dysfunctional family on a road trip. Her co-stars, Greg Kinnear and Alan Arkin, both mentioned that they were "astounded by her seriousness of purpose during shooting".[6] For her performance, Breslin received nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Award and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (on January 23, 2007). At the time of her nomination and at the age of ten years old, Breslin became the fourth youngest actress to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The three actresses younger than Breslin to receive the nomination were Tatum O'Neal, Mary Badham, and Quinn Cummings. Breslin's co-star, Alan Arkin, did not want her to win the award, specifying that he thought that she has "had enough attention" and "needs to have a childhood".[7]
Although Breslin did not win the Oscar, she co-presented with Jaden Smith at the 79th Academy Awards on February 25, 2007. Breslin was part of the Disney Year of a Million Dreams celebration. Annie Leibovitz photographed her as Fira from Disney Fairies with Julie Andrews as the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio. On October 27, 2007, Breslin made her stage debut in the play Right You Are (If You Think You Are) in New York City at the Guggenheim Museum starring in an ensemble cast alongside Cate Blanchett, Dianne Wiest, Natalie Portman and Peter Sarsgaard.[8] In 2007, Breslin was ranked #8 in Forbes Magazine's list of "Young Hollywood's Top-Earning Stars", having earned $1.5 million in 2006.[9]
In September 2009, Breslin was spotted filming in Des Moines, IA as the title character in the film Janie Jones.[11] "I can’t say too much about it, but it is a drama,” Breslin said. “It has some funny parts in it, but for the most part it’s drama.” The film is surrounded by a fair amount of secrets, and Breslin is one of the first main roles to be cast.[12]
