Abigail Breslin
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Abigail Breslin
Breslin at Palm Springs Film Festival, 2007
Born	Abigail Kathleen Breslin April 14, 1996 (1996-04-14) (age 12) New York City, New York, U.S.A.
Years active	2002 - present
Awards won Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture 2006 Little Miss Sunshine

Abigail Kathleen Breslin (born April 14, 1996) is an Academy-Award nominated American child actress. The fourth youngest actress ever to be nominated for a competitive Academy Award, Breslin is known for portraying Olive Hoover in the film Little Miss Sunshine, Nim Rusoe in Nim's Island, and Kit Kittredge in Kit Kittredge: An American Girl as well as for several supporting roles in other films.

Biography

Personal life

Breslin was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of Kim, who manages Abigail's career, and Michael Breslin, a telecommunications expert, computer programmer and consultant.¹² Her maternal grandparents, Catherine and Lynn Blecker, are from New Jersey, and now live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.³⁴ She has two older brothers, Ryan and Spencer Breslin, who is also an actor. Breslin lives in New York with her family, which her maternal grandparents have described as "very close-knit".⁴³ She is named after First Lady of the United States Abigail Adams⁵ and collects American Girl dolls and stuffed animals.

Career

Prior to her star-making turn in 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 2006, Breslin starred in the comedy 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 a Screen Actors Guild Award Nomination, as well as an Academy Award nomination 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

Breslin next appeared in the romantic comedies No Reservations, playing the niece of a chef, and Definitely, Maybe, in which her character is the daughter of a recently-divorced father (Ryan Reynolds).¹⁰ In 2008, Breslin starred with former child star Jodie Foster in the film Nim's Island and also headlined Kit Kittredge: An American Girl as the title character.

Filmography

TV guest appearances

• Essentials Jr., co-host movie introduction of youth-oriented series on Turner Classic Movies (2008)
• 2008 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards introducing The Naked Brothers Band with Ryan Sheckler
• 2007 Academy Awards presenting the awards with Jaden Smith for Best Animated Short and Best Live-Action Short
• 2006 Video Music Awards presenting the award with Fergie for Best New Artist
• Ghost Whisperer playing Sarah Applewhite in episode: "Melinda's First Ghost"
• NCIS playing Sandy Watson in episode: "See No Evil"
• Law and Order: Special Victims Unit playing Patty Branson in episode: "Birthright"
• What I Like About You playing Josie in episode: "Teddy Bear"
• Hack (TV series) playing Kayla Adams in episode "Domestic Disturbance"
• Grey's Anatomy playing Megan Clover in episode 303 "Sometimes a Fantasy" (2006)

Awards

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Abigail Breslin at the Internet Movie Database
• Abigail Breslin at Allmovie
• Abigail Breslin at TV.com
• 2008 Moment of Thanks video of Abigail Breslin thanking the troops
• Vanity Fair spotlight
• Miss Abigail Breslin Online - Fansite
• Abigail Breslin Filmography
• Abigail Breslin News, 2 youtube Video and old Photos
• Abigail Breslin Image Library