Abigail Breslin

Abigail Breslin (born 14.4.1996)

Abigail Breslin rose to fame as a child actress, featuring in a number of popular Hollywood films, such as Little Miss Sunshine and Signs.

Abigail Breslin: Childhood

Abigail Breslin was born in New York, to Kim and Michael. Her mother works as Abigail's manager and her father is a telecoms expert. She has two older brothers, Ryan and Spencer. They are also actors.

Abigail Breslin: Career

Abigail Breslin started acting at the age of three, when she appeared in an advert for Toys 'R' Us. Her debut film role came in 2002, when she landed a role in Signs, directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The movie also starred Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix, as well as Rory Culkin.

In 1994, Breslin featured in Raising Helen, along with her brother Spencer (they played brother and sister in the film). The comedy-drama film also starred Kate Hudson, Joan Cusack and Hayden Panettiere, but was poorly received by the critics.

Breslin's next role was in The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, starring Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews. The child star went on to receive much better reviews for her performance in Keane, an independent film with a limited cinema release.

In 2006, Abigail Breslin starred alongside Steve Carell, Toni Collette and Greg Kinnear in the cult hit Little Miss Sunshine. It propelled her to fame and proved to be her breakthrough career move. Her performance was so highly praised that Breslin became the fourth youngest star to be nominated for that year's Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The award eventually went to Jennifer Hudson but Abigail co-presented at the awards ceremony with Jaden Smith.

The following year, she made her stage debut in Right You Are (If You Think You Are), at the Guggenheim Museum. The play also starred Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett and Peter Sarsgaard.

In the romantic comedy No Reservations, Breslin played the niece of Catherine Zeta-Jones's character. Although the film received largely negative reviews, it was a huge commercial success. Later that year, she also starred in Definitely Maybe, opposite Ryan Reynolds.

2008 saw Breslin appear in Nim's Island, along with Jodie Foster, playing the role of Nim Rusoe. She also featured in Kim Mittredge: An American Girl, playing the title role. Following this was 2009's My Sister's Keeper, in which she played the role of Anna Fitzgerald. Dakota Fanning was originally pegged to play the role but refused to shave her head to portray the young girl suffering from leukaemia.

Taking on a less serious role, Breslin went on to appear in Zombieland, a horror comedy. Zombieland also starred Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone and Jesse Eisenberg.

Returning to the stage, Abigail Breslin was then selected to play the part of the author and activist Helen Keller, in the Broadway production of The Miracle Worker.

Abigail Breslin's next film, Janie Jones saw her play the role of a teenager, abandoned by her former-groupie mother (played by Elisabeth Shue) and tracks down her father, a fading rock star (played by Alessandro Nivola).

Having a keen interest in music, Abigail Breslin has also started a band, with her friend Cassidy Reiff, called CABB.