Biography
Date of Birth
14 December 1996, New York City, New York, USA
Birth Name
Abigail Kathleen Breslin
Nickname
Abbie
Miss Abbie B
Abbie B
Height
5' 1" (1.55 m)
Mini Biography
Academy Award-nominated actress Abigail Breslin is one of the most sought-after actors of her generation. Her unique and charismatic talents have contributed to her versatile roles in both comedy and drama.
Recently, Breslin headlined the first season of the horror-comedy series, Scream Queens (2015), opposite Emma Roberts, Lea Michele and Jamie Lee Curtis, and starred in the coveted role of "Baby" in ABC/Lionsgate's recreation of the pop-culture classic, Dirty Dancing (2017).
Abigail Kathleen Breslin was born in New York City, New York, to Kim and Michael Breslin, a telecommunications expert and consultant. She has two sibling, Ryan Breslin and Spencer Breslin, who is also an actor. She is of Irish, Austrian Jewish, and English descent.
Abigail has acted since she was a small child. She is widely recognized for her role in the critically-acclaimed Little Miss Sunshine (2006), the irreverent, antic comedy which created a sensation at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, Breslin played the role of "Olive", an ambitious young girl who is obsessed with winning a beauty pageant. For her performance, she received a Best Actress Award from the Tokyo International Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award, SAG and BAFTA Best Supporting Actress awards. In addition, she was honored as ShoWest's "Female Star of Tomorrow" in 2008, and made her Broadway debut in 2010 in "The Miracle Worker".
Her many credits include Ender's Game (2013), Haunter (2013), The Call (2013), Rango (2011), Janie Jones (2010), Zombieland (2009), My Sister's Keeper (2009), New Year's Eve (2011), Raising Helen (2004), The Ultimate Gift (2006), The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006), No Reservations (2007), Definitely, Maybe (2008), Nim's Island (2008), Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008) and M. Night Shyamalan's 2002 film, Signs (2002), opposite Mel Gibson.
Breslin was seen in The Weinstein Company film, August: Osage County (2013), opposite Meryl Streep, Ewan McGregor, Julia Roberts, Sam Shepard, Dermot Mulroney and Juliette Lewis. She starred in the coveted role of "Jean Fordham", the daughter of Julia Roberts' and Ewan McGregor's characters.
She starred in the Lionsgate film, Maggie (2015), opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger. The film follows a teenage girl (Breslin) from a small town in the Midwest, who becomes infected by a disease that slowly turns her into a zombie. The film premiered at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival in New York and was released on May 8, 2015.
In October of 2015, Harper Collins published Breslin's first book, "This May Sound Crazy". The book is based on her popular Tumblr "Mixtapes & Winter Coats", in which she writes honest, funny and emotional observations on her daily life as a young adult.
Trivia
Has an older brother, Spencer Breslin.
Abigail was spoofed in the 2003 comedy, Scary Movie 3 (2003).
Abigail has joint hypermobility, (commonly referred to as being "double-jointed").
She was very good friends with the late fellow young actress Skye McCole Bartusiak.
She said that if she were a superhero, she would want to fly and be able to speak every other language.
When speaking for "Kids with a Cause", said she thought everybody needed a friend.
Her on-screen brother in Raising Helen (2004) was played by her real-life brother, Spencer Breslin.
Her favourite Disney film is Finding Nemo (2003).
She donated many items to Rocky Stone to be given to less fortunate kids as part of the Toy Mountain Campaign.
In 2007, she became the fifth youngest actress ever to be nominated for best supporting actress at the age of 10 years. Those younger than Abigail were Tatum O'Neal (10 years old), Mary Badham (10 years old), Quinn Cummings (10 years old) and Justin Henry at 8 years old.
Was directed by Adam Arkin, the son of her Little Miss Sunshine (2006) costar Alan Arkin, in the TV episode Grey's Anatomy: Sometimes a Fantasy (2006).
Has an older brother by 11 years, Ryan Breslin.
Her favorite movie is Meet Me in St. Louis (1944).
Was ranked #18 on Entertainment Weekly's '30 Under 30' the actress list.(2008).
When she's older, if she doesn't continue acting, she would like to become either a veterinarian or a fashion designer.
She has two dogs, a cat and a turtle.
Collects American Girl dolls and stuffed animals.
In 2007, she was ranked #8 in Forbes Magazine's list of "Young Hollywood's Top-Earning Stars", having earned $1.5 million in 2006.
Was ranked #8 alongside Dakota Fanning on TV Guide Top 10 Teen Star Countdown (2008).
Breslin had to wear a shoulder length, blonde wig for her role in Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008). In reality, she is a light brunette.
Abigail is in a band called "CABB" with her friend, Cassidy Reiff.
Her performance in Little Miss Sunshine (2006) earned her an Academy Award nomination. She lost out to Jennifer Hudson.
Named after the First Lady of USA, Abigail Adams.
Has two brothers: Ryan Breslin and Spencer Breslin.
Her favorite actresses are Meryl Streep and Margaret O'Brien.
Friends with Chloë Grace Moretz, Jake Busey, Harry Cook & Alexa PenaVega.
She was once threatened to leave a movie theatre because she was yelling at the screen during a scary movie.
Currently starring as Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker" on Broadway. [March 2010]
She posed topless for a photo shoot, with celebrity photographer Tyler Shields, when she was just age 17.
She had a severe asthma attack during the filming of a scene for her movie, Haunter (2013).
Her first real-life kiss was with Jake T. Austin.
Abigail Breslin and Chloë Grace Moretz both auditioned for the role of "Jean Fordham" in August: Osage County (2013). Abigail, who auditioned with a 103-degree fever, was able to secure the role.
She taught herself how to play guitar through YouTube.
Her mother taught her how to roll a joint and how to properly light one in preparation for her role in Perfect Sisters (2014).
In both Raising Helen (2004) and No Reservations (2007) she plays a young girl who's orphaned in a car accident and raised by her childless, unmarried aunt.
She is the first person born in the 1990s to have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (for Little Miss Sunshine, 2006). Keisha Castle-Hughes was the first person born in that decade to have been nominated for an acting Oscar (Best Actress, for 2002's Whale Rider (2002), nominated for 2003's movie year).
Her paternal grandfather was an Irish immigrant and her paternal grandmother was born in New York, to Austrian Jewish parents. Abigail's mother has Irish and English ancestry.
Born at 2:00 PM (EDT).
On February 22, 2022. Breslin announced engagement to longtime boyfriend Ira Kunyansky.
Trademarks:
Long hair to hips during her child and preteen years.
Quotes
"It was the coolest experience ever! I hadn't done any other movie roles, so I was really nervous." about her first movie role in Signs (2002).
[her experience on the set of Signs (2002)] "Everyone was just so nice. The director would ask me if I was OK with my scenes and if something was too scary. Joaquin (Joaquin Phoenix) was great, too. We would thumb-wrestle between takes. I always won!"
I want to do wardrobe. I want to do hair. I want to do makeup. I want to do writing. I want to do directing. I want to do all of it. I like it. And I want to do producing.
I would hope that someday, in my lifetime that I'd be able to tell my kids there used to be a thing called cancer but it doesn't exist anymore.
[Shame on Sandy Benefit 2013] When the hurricane hit, I was in Oklahoma filming, and I had been away from home for quite a long time, I was really homesick, so I went into the basement of where I was staying to write the song.
Everybody's always like, 'Are you so sick of people saying Little Miss Sunshine?' No, because I'd so much rather them say that than, like, 'Little Miss Effed Up in the Head.' I love that movie. It's a part of me and it always will be.
