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. Her maternal grandparents, Catherine and Lynn Blecker, are from New Jersey, and now live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. 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". She is named after First Lady of the United States Abigail Adams and collects American Girl dolls and stuffed animals. She Enjoys reading The Clique by Lisi Harrison, and Anne of Green Gables.


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". 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".

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. 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 was recently seen in the drama The Ultimate Gift, playing a terminally ill girl. The film was shot in the fall of 2005 in Charlotte, North Carolina and opened on March 9, 2007. Reviewer Steve Persall of the St. Petersburg Times commented that Breslin "isn't a fluke, but will require smarter scripts until she matures". 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). 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.