Abigail Kathleen Breslin

Abigail Kathleen Breslin (born April 14, 1996) is an American teen actress. She is one of the youngest actresses ever to be nominated for an Academy Award.

Breslin appeared in her first commercial when she was only three years old, and in her first movie, Signs, at the age of five. Her subsequent films include Little Miss Sunshine, Nim's Island, Definitely, Maybe, My Sister's Keeper; Zombieland, and Rango.

Breslin was born in New York City, the daughter of Kim, who manages her career, and Michael, a telecommunications expert, computer programmer, and consultant.Breslin has two older brothers, Ryan and Spencer, who are also actors. Breslin lives in New York with her family, which her maternal grandparents have described as "very close-knit".She is named after First Lady of the United States Abigail Adams.

  

Breslin's career began at the age of three, when she appeared in a Toys "R" Us commercial. Her first film role was in the 2002 science fiction thriller Signs, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, where she played Bo Hess, the daughter of the main character, Graham Hess (Mel Gibson). Signs garnered mostly positive reviews and was a box office success, grossing $408 million worldwide.Breslin's performance in the film was praised by critics.  

 

Newsweek wrote that both she and co-star Rory Culkin gave "terrifically natural, nuanced performances".In 2004, she appeared in the film Raising Helen where she and her brother Spencer played siblings. The film received mostly negative reviews.Breslin also had a small role in The Princess Diaries and Royal Engagement.   
Kira Bedik, a young girl who reminds the mentally disturbed protagonist William Keane (Damian Lewis) of his abducted daughter. Keane had a limited theatrical release and grossed only $394,390 worldwide but it received positive reviews and Breslin's performance was praised by critics.Meghan Keane of The New York Sun wrote that "the scenes between Mr. Lewis and the charmingly fragile Kira, winningly played by Ms. Breslin, bring a captivating humanity to the film".

  Breslin's breakthrough role was in the 2006 comedy-drama Little Miss Sunshine, where she played Olive Hoover, a beauty pageant contestant, the youngest in a dysfunctional family on a road trip. She was cast at the age of six, years before filming was started.Her co-stars, Greg Kinnear and Alan Arkin, both mentioned that they were "astounded by her seriousness of purpose during shooting".Little Miss Sunshine was a critical[20] and commercial success, grossing $100 million worldwide.Breslin's performance was highly praised,Claudia Puig of USA Today wrote that "If Olive had been played by any other little girl, she would not have affected us as mightily as it did."

Breslin received nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Award and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the fourth youngest actress to be nominated in that category.Her 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". 

Although Breslin did not win the Oscar, she co-presented with actor Jaden Smith at the 79th Academy Awards on February 25, 2007.[citation needed] 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.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.

  Breslin at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival Breslin next appeared in the 2007 romantic comedy No Reservations, playing the niece of master chef Kate Armstrong (Catherine Zeta-Jones). The film garnered mostly negative reviews but was successful commercially, grossing $92 million worldwide. Roger Ebert wrote that Breslin "has the stuff to emerge as a three-dimensional kid, if she weren't employed so resolutely as a pawn."Also in 2007, she starred in another romantic comedy, Definitely, Maybe, in which her character is the daughter of a recently divorced father (Ryan Reynolds). Definitely, Maybe received generally favorable reviews, with Steven Rea of The Philadelphia Inquirer writing that Breslin is "alarmingly cute – but she backs the cuteness up with serious acting instinct".

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Monday 26 September 2011 by aaron · 0