Her big break came in 2002 when M. Night Shyamalan cast her as Mel Gibson's youngest daughter in his science fiction hit, "Signs." Her character in the film - a curiously grave adolescent girl dealing with the traumatic death of her mother - clearly showed that Breslin had the chops to handle complex parts even at the tender age of six.
Of the many pleasures found in the sleeper comedy hit "Little Miss Sunshine" (2006), none were more endearing than the performance by child actress Abigail Breslin. As seven-year-old Olive, her unflagging enthusiasm blinded her to both the fact that her doughy, bespectacled appearance was entirely at odds with a child beauty pageant that she wished to participate in, and that her family - who are constantly on the verge of mental and emotional collapse - might provide her biggest stumbling block in achieving the title of "Little Miss Sunshine." Drawing comparisons to a young Dakota Fanning and even Drew Barrymore in her younger, "E.T." (1982) days, Breslin's astonishing performance was alternately hilarious, heartbreaking and hopeful, and her follow-up turns in films like "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" (2008), "My Sister's Keeper (2009) and "Zombieland" (2009) helped secure the promise she had exhibited with her career-making role in "Sunshine."
