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ABIGAIL BRESLIN—From Little Miss Sunshine to An American Girl

Abigail Breslin is an ‘in demand’ young actress.  In 2006 she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for the breakout independent film Little Miss Sunshine.  At five, she worked with Mel Gibson on the M. Night Shyamalan flick Signs.  She has been seen in No Reservations, Nim’s Island, Definitely Maybe, and Santa Claus 3: The Escape Clause.  She was recently in Dallas at the American Girl Store at the Galleria to promote her newest film, Kit Kittredge—An American Girl.
 
Kit Kittredge is based on the based on the hugely popular American Girl book series.  This story is set in Cincinnati during the Great Depression.  Kit (Abigail) is a young girl who dreams of becoming a journalist.  She writes stories about the people in her life; from the hobos who live on the outskirts of town to the struggle the middle class has making it through tough times.  But the film becomes a mystery tale as Kit and her friends have to find the bad guys who stole valuables from her mother (Julia Ormond).  It is a true family adventure story written by Ann Peacock and directed by Patricia Rozema.

”I always liked the American Girl dolls,” she said,  “I have all the dolls.  I was so excited about getting the part. This is sort of like a mystery.  I read all the Kit novels while making the movie and my grandmother told me about the Depression.” 

This girl of the 21st century found life different than when in the Great Depression.  “It was cool living in the 1930’s,” she said.  “I had to learn to use the typewriter and I asked ‘Where was the screen?’ and they said ‘There is no screen’.  Then I asked, ‘How do you delete things?’  ‘You don’t, you have to start over.’  I don’t know about that.”

“I had heard about the Depression but I didn’t know exactly what it was,” she admitted.  “I learned a lot about it in the movie, that whole time.  Just doing the movie, I was researching the time.”  She said that in school, she was only up to the 1880’s in History.

When asked if she could live in the 1930’s, she said, “I couldn’t deal without texting.  I don’t know what I would do without it.”

She called her cast nice and was happy to work with Joan Cusack for the third time.  “It is always good to know people you work with,” Abigail said.  Though she called her director Patricia Rozema ‘nice’ and ‘cool’ and ‘told her everything about Kit’, her biggest praises were with her furry co-stars.  “How could you not love that dog,” she said.  And her other animal co-star was, “the craziest monkey in the world.”

She had to cry in Kit Kittredge, she admitted was the hardest part of the job of acting.  “You think about the situation and the character and think about something sad,” is how she gets the tears to flow.

And even though she was nominated for the Academy Award, she readily admits that she didn’t have a speech ready in case she won.  She said she just enjoyed the time and meeting all the people on Oscar Night.  “It was exciting,” she said of that evening.  She does come across as a typical all American girl who admits that her favorite things are swimming, having sleepovers, talking on the telephone, and of course texting.

Though she is not sure about making any more America Girl Movies, she does seem interesting in doing more parts like Kitt.  The trip to Dallas for her had consisted of going to the Galleria and eating Mexican food.  On being a kid star and traveling from LA to New York to Dallas, Abigail quipped,  “It’s fun and I’m having a good time.”

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