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Abigail Breslin: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star...
By Angela Lee (Age 21, Australia)
At only 13 years old, Abigail Breslin has already been nominated for an Oscar and starred alongside many big screen favourites. With the release of her latest film My Sister’s Keeper this month, there really is no slowing down for this child star. This month Portrait takes a look at the roles that have gotten Abigail to where she is today, and see what former co-stars have had to say about this young bright-eyed actress.
Sometimes it's hard to believe that Abigail is only 13 years old. |
Abigail Lyn Breslin, daughter of Michael and Kim Breslin, and sister to Spencer and Ryan Breslin, was born in New York on April 14, 1996. Abigail made her acting debut at the age of three in a commercial for Toys ‘R’ Us. "I like it. I've been really lucky. I like getting to be somebody else all the time and being able to travel," she said about acting to The Vancouver Sun.
Abigail in Signs alongside Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix. |
Showbiz is a family affair for the Breslins, with Abigail’s mother acting as Abigail’s manager, and older brother Spencer is also in the acting industry.
Abigail got her big break when she starred in the 2002 film Signs, playing Mel Gibson’s daughter. This was then followed by the 2004 film Raising Helen, where she starred alongside Kate Hudson, Hayden Panetierre, and older brother Spencer.
Abigail in Raising Helen with Hayden Panetierre, Kate Hudson and real life brother Spencer. |
“She’s a heartbreaker. She can cry on the spot, she’s so focused, she’s so professional. It’s like working with an adult actor,” Kate Hudson said about Abigail to MTV in July 2003. “It [Raising Helen] actually has [made me want to have kids], especially little Abby," Kate confessed. "[But] you never know what you're going to get. So you might look at a little girl like Abby and go, 'Oh, I can't wait to have a kid.' And then you end up getting this little boy who is off hanging from chandeliers. But we do want them, [and] kids will happen when it's supposed to happen.”
A young Abigail in Law and Order Special Victims Unit. |
Abigail then went on to guest star in television dramas such as Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and NCIS. Executive producer of as Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Ted Kotcheff, had nothing but praise for Abigail and her guest appearance on the show. “Abigail was amazing. You'd say to her, 'Can you cry right now?' — and tears would come down her cheeks. Then, the director said to her, 'Listen, Abigail. The camera's here, and I want to see your right eye. Do you think you can cry out of your right eye?' She said, 'Sure, I can cry out of one eye only.' How does she do that?! We used to call her little Meryl Streep,'' he told Entertainment Weekly.
Abigail as Olive in Little Miss Sunshine 1 |
If Abigail didn’t gather critics’ attention back then, she certainly did in the 2006 independent film Little Miss Sunshine, stealing hearts as the precocious Olive Hoover. The role even earned Abigail an Oscar nomination for “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role”, making her the fourth youngest actor to be nominated in that category. "I was like 'Oh, my God!' and I screamed kind of a little bit like how I did in the movie," Breslin told Associated Press. "I was just so excited."
Abigail with Justin Chambers from Grey's Anatomy, where she made a memorable appearance. |
After Little Miss Sunshine, Abigail continued to guest star in television dramas such as Ghost Whisperer and Grey’s Anatomy. On Grey’s Anatomy, Abigail played a young girl who thought she was a superhero because she believed that she could never get hurt, but she actually had a chromosomal condition where she wasn’t able to feel pain.
Abigail with Aaron Eckhart and Catherine Zeta Jones in No Reservations. |
In 2007, Abigail hit the big screen again in the film No Reservations, alongside Catherine Zeta Jones and Aaron Eckhart. “Just adorable inside and out, such a talented actress and very real young lady. She's not pretentious in any way and I've had a lucky run with working with children, not so much with animals though I almost got thrown off a horse, but with children I've been really lucky to be working with great talent and children that you're going to be watching for the rest of their careers and wishing them the best because they have the talent. So she was an absolute dream,” Catherine Zeta Jones said about Abigail in July 2007 to Latino Review.
Abigail with Jodi Foster in Nim's Island. |
Abigail continued to win hearts, playing yet another precocious child in the 2008 romantic comedy Definitely, Maybe, playing Ryan Reynolds’ on-screen daughter Maya Hayes. “She has a genuine love for what she does. She'd be doing it anyway if she wasn't in films. She'd be in plays at school or theater sports after school or whatever. She's just a genuine go-getter and a delightful kid. Hollywood is definitely made up of broken glass and bubblegum, it's a scary place, but she seems to be handling it pretty well. I don't know many 11-year-old Oscar nominees who are complete sh*ts, so she's pretty great,” Ryan Reynolds told Comingsoon.net.
Abigail and Ryan Reynolds in Definitely Maybe. |
2008 certainly kicked off a stream of films starring Abigail, including the family friendly film Nim’s Island, which Abigail appeared in alongside veteran actress Jodie Foster. "I do see bits and pieces of myself in her," said Jodie Foster. "(But) she has something that I don't have, or that I didn't have as a young person, which is that she has very strong access to her emotions. That's so easy for her and she's really just born to be an actress. I really didn't have that at her age and so it's fun for me to see that. To look at a kid and go, 'Wow, that kid is born to be an actor'."
Abigail at the Nim's Island premiere. |
And while Jodie was impressed by Abigail, Abigail also learnt a lot from Jodie while filming Nim’s Island. “My mom always told me the best way to learn is to watch and kind of learn from people. So that's what, watching her so believe the character that she is when she is doing it, it kind of helped me be Nim, because I was watching how much she believed that she is Alexandra,” said Abigail.
Nim’s Island also allowed Abigail to interact with animals – another great love of Abigail’s. “It was so much fun. I got to work with sea lions and bearded dragon lizards and the pelican. I trained them and had to feed them and learned how to make them do tricks," she told The Vancouver Sun.
Abigail in Kit Kittredge An American Girl. |
In 2008, Abigail also starred in the film Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, where she played 10 year old Margaret “Kit” Kitteredge, a budding reporter during the 1930s Great Depression. The role took Abigail back to a period that took her a while to comprehend. “I had to learn how to use a typewriter,'' she says of her preparation for the role. ``When I saw it I said, ‘Where’s the screen?’ That was really weird. But I don’t think I would be a very good reporter because Kit takes a lot of notes, and I wouldn’t be able to keep track,'' Abigail told The Patriot Ledger.
Abigail in My Sister's Keeper |
This month, we’ll see Abigail in what’s sure to be a serious tear-jerker - My Sister’s Keeper, which is based on the popular book written by Jodi Picoult. Abigail plays Anna, who was deliberately and genetically conceived so her older sister Kate could fight the leukaemia that has plagued her as a child. Now 13 years old, Anna is struggling to find her own identity away from being defined via Kate and seeks to be emancipated from her parents so that she can be in control of not only her body but also of who she is, despite the consequences it may have for her ill sister.
Abigail with the Kit doll. |
“What’s wonderful about Abigail is that she’s very professional and she’s an amazing actress. You don’t feel like you’re acting in a scene with a child. But she’s also age-appropriate. She turned 12 on the set and she is that age,” Cameron Diaz, who plays Abigail’s mother in My Sister’s Keeper, told Entertainment Weekly.
My Sister’s Keeper signifies a clear step for Abigail and marks her transition into more grittier, serious and grown up roles. The grown up roles continue for Abigail as she is set to star in the new Samuel L. Jackson film Rape: A Love Story, where Abigail will play the daughter of an assault victim. The film is expected to start filming in July. On a more lighter note, Abigail will also lend her voice to the Paramount Pictures animated film
If Abigail wasn't an actress, she'd like to be a vet because of her love of animals. Here she is with her dog Andalucia. |
Rango, which will also feature the voice of Johnny Depp. Abigail will voice the owner of a household pet – voiced by Depp – who goes on an adventure to discover his true self. Abigail will also lend her voice to the cartoon film The Wild Bunch, along with William Dafoe, Elizabeth Hurley, and Chris Klein. She has also finished filming the horror comedy film Zombieland, which also stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, and Emma Stone.
While she may be a busy bee right now, Abigail has thought about life after acting. "I'd either like to keep doing this or be a veterinarian," she told NY Daily News. "My mom says I don't have a career until after college." As an animal lover (she’s owned dogs, cats, and even a turtle!), Abigail thinks “it would be fun to help them get better.”
Abigail and brother Spencer. |
Abigail’s mother, who is also her manager, does play quite a role in Abigail’s acting career. “My mum will tell me if I can read it or not. If I can, I'll see if I like the character and if it is something I want to do," Abigail told The Vancouver Sun. Abigail, is after all only 13 years old, though due to her huge success in such a short amount of time, people tend to forget that. Nonetheless, she does on occasion have time to just be the kid that she actually is. When she’s not acting, being home-schooled, or being an honorary member of the Girl Scouts, in her spare time Abigail likes to swim, read, shop, talk on the phone. “I get into trouble because I text too much,” Abigail told The New York Times. “My dad was like, ‘You have 600 text messages!’ ” Oh the life of a young and in demand actress!
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