Abigail Breslin has already inhabited some big roles in her 13 years, and now she’ll be tackling one of the most inspiring historical figures: Helen Keller. Abigail will be starring as the woman who was a fierce advocate for those with hearing and seeing disabilities in a revival of William Gibson’s The Miracle Worker on Broadway, the Associated Press reports. Read more »
Posts Tagged ‘Abigail Breslin’
Abigail Breslin to Play Helen Keller on Broadway
October 28th, 2009 / Author: Mary Beth QuirkCameron Diaz ‘Lucky’ For Hot Bod
June 25th, 2009 / Author: OK! Staff
There’s something about Cameron Diaz during the My Sister’s Keeper premiere held Wednesday at NYC’s AMC Loews Lincoln Square.
Clad in a white J. Mendel frock, the buoyant bombshell radiates joy in every way from her wide smile to her easy laugh to her sparkling blue eyes. She towers over everyone, and her deep tan and fire-engine red lipstick simply heighten the glamour.
How does the actress, 36, stay trim?
“I guess I’m just lucky,” she laughs, attributing her bod to that old standby — genetics.
In this medical drama opening Friday, Cameron plays mom to a daughter suffering from leukemia. To save her child, Cameron gives birth to another daughter, played by Abigail Breslin, who is forced to endure medical tests to save her sister until one day, Abigail’s character says “no” and seeks medical emancipation.
“Mothers are goddesses,” Cameron says. Her own family was on hand when she received her star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame this week. “Family’s everything. They’re the most important things to me, absolutely.”
One thing Cameron likes to do for her family is cook, and co-star Heather Wahlquist admits she makes a mean guacamole. “She cooks very healthy, with a lot of garlic and olive oil,” she tells me. “She gave me one good tip: if you get garlic on your fingers – it smells because you cook with garlic – then you can take stainless steel, and rub your fingers on it, and it goes away.”
Cameron’s co-stars can’t stop gushing about her.
Thomas Dekker tells me, “She’s like an old movie star. She has that bubbly, charismatic movie star presence, and then she can turn around and do something. It’s surprising how good she is in this film. I think all the people who were like ‘she’s the wrong choice,’ once they see it, they’ll be amazed.”
Director Nick Cassavetes, who also helmed The Notebook, was responsible for making sure Cameron didn’t cry throughout the film, which was nearly impossible, the actress admits.
Nick tells me, “I was surprised by what a great woman she was. I didn’t think she went that deep. It’s not because she’s Cameron Diaz, but when you know someone, you’re like ‘hey, how are you? What’s going on? Ho-ho-ho, hee-hee-hee.’ We really had to go there for this one, and I was surprised by how still her water was.”
There’s Abigail, 13, who is all gussied up in monster heels. A woman shrieks and gives her a hug. Her looks aren’t the only way in which she’s mature.
“She’s so smart for her age, and she knows what she wants,” costar Evan Ellingson tells me. “She uses big words. She’s smarter than I am right now, and I’m 20 years old.”
She also has a child’s side.
Heather, who plays her aunt, says, “The funny thing about Abigail is when she’s on set, she’s a serious person who gets into her character and knows exactly what she’s doing, but when it’s over, she’s a kid again. We put together this puzzle that we couldn’t wait … they’d say ‘cut!’ and we’d be like ‘yes!’ and running back to finish our puzzle. It was fun.”
My Sisters Keeper opens Friday.
Jennifer Aniston Gives Up Spotlight
December 18th, 2008
Jennifer Aniston lets her Marley and Me dog Clyde shine during the Tribeca Cinema Series screening of her comedy held Wednesday at Tribeca Cinemas Gallery in NYC.
While she’s off hitting the talk-show circuit, Clyde is being feted with congratulatory barks when he takes the screen during the V.I.P. (Very Important Pooch) event attended by celebs including Denis Leary and Beth Ostrosky Stern and their dogs. (Abigail Breslin stops by the cocktail party sans pup.)
Clyde’s trainer, Mathilde DeCagny, says working with Jennifer was a dream.
“Jen was loving, and very attentive,” she tells me. “She’s such a normal, sweet, fun person. There’s no ego, there’s no complication. All she wants to do is be professional and do it right. I never thought she would be that easy and outgoing. We loved her.”
Other pampered pets – like Denis’ dog Daphne – are pleased to be in the company of the movie star pooch.
“She’s flipped out that we brought her where there are other dogs, because she likes to think of herself as special,” Denis tells me. He’s keeping a tight grip on Daphne thanks to help from wife Ann.
The comedian has no regrets for 2008 – even though he inflamed parents with particularly vile comments he made about autism in his book Why We Suck: A Feel-Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid. “I would’ve voted for Obama about ten more times if I could have,” he tells me. “That’s about it.”
This holiday season the Rescue Me star jokes that he will gift his three dogs with cars and designer clothing in exchange for the affection they give him.
“Dogs love you no matter what you smell like, no matter how tired you are, or where you just came from,” Denis says. “No matter what mood you’re in or what’s going on, they always love you. You can’t pay a human being to do that – maybe for an hour, but not much longer than that.”
Mrs. Stern moves along with bulldog Bianca Romijn-Stamos-O’Connell, who recently came home with a pink toe when she brought her along to a manicure appointment. “Howard wasn’t too happy about that,” Beth says.
What’s her dog’s idea of a perfect night?
“Lying in her bed between Howard and me,” she tells me. “She’s so happy right between the two of us.”
For the holiday season, Beth tells me the best pet gift is “lots of love.”
Certainly Jennifer would agree.
Marley and Me is in theaters December 25.
And, pick up the OK! on newsstands now for more on Jennifer Aniston and an At Home with Clyde, the dog featured in Marley and Me. Jennifer Aniston/“Obsessed With Angie” is the cover line.
Looking for a great gift this holiday season? Both Denis Leary and Beth Ostrosky Stern agree that pets make great gifts. Visit your local shelter to give one a home.
Abigail Breslin, Julia Roberts Do ‘American Girl’ Premiere
July 2nd, 2008
Donning sunglasses, Julia Roberts strides into the Kit Kittredge: An American Girl premiere alongside her sister, Lisa Gillen.
“I didn’t come alone, man!” executive producer Julia exclaims during the NYC premiere held at Ziegfeld Theater.
The Oscar winner caps off an evening that is all about the kids, as little girls – even a Girl Scout troop — flock to the venue clutching American Girl dolls.
Jada Pinkett Smith is here giving some love to daughter Willow, who stars in the kiddie flick.
“I’m good, I’m great,” Will Smith’s wife says.
Willow certainly knows how to work those flashes – she’s only 7, but she was born posing. The crowd goes wild when her brother Jaden, 9, opens his shirt. (It’s in the genes!)
Chris O’Donnell is accompanied by a gaggle of girls, including daughter Lily, who is schlepping two American Girl dolls to the screening.
The true star of the night, however, is Abigail Breslin, who says her favorite food is pizza. What would she miss most if she lived in the ‘30s, like her character, who grew up in the Great Depression? “Probably my phone and my computer,” she says.
After bonding over the game Concentration on set by day, costar Zach Mills says he joined Abigail, Madison Davenport and Willow Smith for dinner every night.
“One of us would suggest where to go. We had a lot of fun. I filmed it in Toronto, and right next to our hotel was this great Indian restaurant. I wish I lived in Toronto to go there now. And we went to sushi places too. Abigail picked an Italian restaurant called Bellini’s.”
Mmm!
What is Willow really like?
“She is a ball of sass, and I love it,” Madison tells me. “She’s like ‘mmhmm.’”
And Abigail?
“She’s sweet. She’s not like ‘get me my sunglasses now.’ She’s very sweet.”
Costar Wallace Shawn seconds that thought.
“Abigail ignores the fact that she’s a famous movie star. If you talk with her, you would assume maybe she’s been invited on set for the day to play a small part, and tomorrow she’ll be back in school.”
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl is in theaters now.
Mark, Mischa Make ‘The Happening’
June 12th, 2008
Mark Wahlberg must be sweating through his suit but he doesn’t let it show during the premiere of The Happening, which takes place at NYC’s Ziegfeld Theater.
He greets Luis Guzman with a pat on the back and a “how you doin’ buddy?” moments before the debut of the highly-anticipated thriller.
How does he feel about director M. Night Shyamalan being so secretive with the plot?
“I don’t want to see a movie when you already know what the movie is about,” Mark says. “I’m saving all the good bits.”
The 91-degree heat plus major humidity is stifling, and John Leguizamo wipes his brow with a tissue. Oops! A portion is left behind on his face, but a TV reporter picks it off.
What’s the scariest thing that happened on set?
“Craft services,” John laughs to me. “You never knew if it was going to be good or horrible. Blanched vegetables, meat that tasted like wood, desserts that were out of Entenmann’s boxes.”
He continues, “Realistically, the scariest thing was there was this one sequence when I was talking to the extras who were in the scene to set up the shot. They’re all on trees and nooses, on top of ladders, still hanging out and talking. They said ‘action,’ they pull all the ladders out and they’re just hanging – the whole block of oak trees with nooses dangling there.”
Yikes!
By the time Spencer Breslin rolls by, I’m feeling woozy, so I take a few moments to sit down on the sidewalk. (Saved by the bottled water.) What’s the best advice he’s received? “Don’t take advice from people,” he says.
Sister Abigail Breslin speeds through, and 30 Rock’s Judah Friedlander calls out Let’s Scare Jessica To Death and the original Stepfather as the scariest movies he’s seen. “I’m a big horror fan, and this guy knows how to make a movie,” he tells me.
Why is Mark perfect for the role?
“The character that I wrote needed this certain balance of innocence,” M. Night tells me. “He had a charm and a funniness to him. I need actors to be grounded emotionally. It was a no-brainer.”
Hey look, Mischa Barton is here! “M’s a friend of mine,” she says. “This is the first film of his that’s rated R.” What’s her favorite M. Night film? “The Sixth Sense,” she says. “I was a child, but I really did love it.”
The Happening hits theaters Friday.
Hot Shots! 4/7/08 - 4/13/08
April 7th, 2008
Jodie Foster: Abigail Breslin’s “Born to Be an Actress”
March 31st, 2008
Since she’s a former child star, it’s easy to assume Jodie Foster would share some words of wisdom with a current young starlet, Abigail Breslin, her co-star in Nim’s Island. However, the double Oscar winner tells OK! there was absolutely no need to lend Abigail a helping hand.
“She’s different in that in some ways I think that she’s a deeper actress than I was at that age,” Jodie tells OK! at film’s premiere. “She has an access to a well of emotions that I wasn’t aware of at that age. She was born to be an actress. I learned as time went on.”
Abigail, who plans on celebrating her 12th birthday on April 14 in Disneyland, confirms Jodie didn’t give her any direct advice, but that doesn’t mean Little Miss Sunshine herself didn’t learn a thing or two from Jodie.
“Just watching her, you’re learning from her,” Abigail tells OK!. “It was just really cool.”
Nim’s Island, which opens Friday, is an adventure-fantasy film about a young girl (Abigail) who lives on an island with her father and communicates with the author of the novel she’s reading. It’s Jodie’s first children-friendly film in a while, which she is happy about as her children, Charles, 9, and Kit, 6, can see it.
“I really wanted to show a lighter side of myself," she says. "I’d been looking for 15 years, searching for a movie that had a lighter hand. My kids have never seen a movie of mine. This will be the first time. It’s their first premiere too!”
By David Lasky
Hot Shots! 3/3/08-3/9/08
March 3rd, 2008
Stars celebrate Thanksgiving with parade, family and food
November 22nd, 2007 / Author: Valerie Nome
For Thanksgiving, being with family is the top priority on every celeb’s list.
“I am doing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, so I will be in New York,” Jordin Sparks tells me. “And then, right after I perform, I’m hopping on a plane and going home so I can spend time with my family and eat and watch football.”
Joey Fatone plans to watch the parade with his family in NYC.
Gossip Girl’s Chace Crawford will go back to Dallas to see his family. “We’ll do a lot of eating, and maybe watch the Cowboys football game,” he says.
Heidi Klum tells me she will be celebrating her son Johan’s first birthday. “I’m going to be doing a big turkey with a happy birthday candle on top of the turkey, which I just got at the supermarket. They have those ones where each letter is separate, and they have spikes. It’s going to be sitting on the turkey this year. It’s going to be a funny turkey.”
Jessica Alba can’t wait to eat candied yams and mashed potatoes; Georgina Chapman wants to drink champagne; Ashanti is dreaming of fried turkey, cabbage, corn bread, rice and peas; Chris Brown is dreaming of turkey and yams.
“Picking the pieces off the turkey before it actually gets onto the platter” is something Jason Lewis looks forward to all year.
“I love the cranberry sauce from the jar,” Jamie Lynn Sigler says. “I love that. I live for it. My family only gets it for me because nobodyy else eats it, but that’s my favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal.”
Reba McEntire tells me she’ll wear an apron this year. “I have a hamburger bean dish and Mexican cornbread that I like to cook. That’s my contribution. Not very Thanksgivingishy, but I like it.”
“I like to make dessert,” Mya says. “I make apple blueberry pie every Thanksgiving. I make it with fresh apples and blueberries – that’s actually the filling. Brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg. That’s really great.”
“I make pumpkin pie and apple pie,” Abigail Breslin says. “My mom taught me how to do that. Usually we get pumpkin stuffed in a can at the store and put it in and make it. She’s a good cook.”
Everyone loves to watch the Macy’s parade.
“I do the cooking, and our good friends, my goddaughter and her family, come over,” Deborah Norville tells me. “Sometimes we get a third family, but it’s always the same two families. I’m in my pajamas all morning, and I’m cooking. I time my dinner based on where the Macy’s parade is. If Santa Claus is coming across the finish line and certain things haven’t happened? Then we’re late. The turkey’s not going to be ready, the sweet potatoes are going to be mushy, something will go wrong. I have to pace myself on the Santa Claus parade.”
