It's always an interesting experience to interview a child actor; some, especially those who've come out of the Disney school, are rehearsed and talkative within an inch of their lives, while others just seem like kids. You might expect Abigail Breslin to be a professionally groomed version of the former, but in fact, she's refreshingly normal and unaffected. Talking to her is like talking to your thirteen-year-old niece, although your niece probably wasn't nominated for an Oscar at ten years old.
Breslin switched gears a bit in her career to play a tough teen in Zombieland, and with the comedy riding high at the box office, I spoke to the actress about the making of the film and what she's got on deck next.
So tell me about that scene in Zombieland where you smash stuff in the store. If I were your age, I think I would have taken the role for that scene alone!
That was such a fun scene. It was, like, the last day of filming and we were smashing all that stuff. It was really fun. I got to smash, like, twenty snow globes or something like that?
So now when you see a snow globe in real life, are you hit with this bloodlust? "Must. Smash. Snow globe."
Yeah, I know, right? I wish I did, but my mom would probably get mad at me if I smashed a show globe.
This is a very different role in a very different movie for you. Was Zombieland part of an intentional effort to change up your career a little, or do you just take whatever role you like best that's out there at the moment?
You know, I really liked the script and the story. My character Little Rock is really cool; she's a con artist and she's really tough and really smart. I really wanted to play her, and I'm glad the first three weeks of filming were at an amusement park. How can you go wrong with that?
Was the park actually up and running? Like, you could go on rides between takes?
Yeah, we could. The last day of filming, we went on a bunch of rides that weren't even in the movie. But it was off-season, it was like, February, so...
Is this the sort of movie you'd go to see if you weren't in it?
Yeah. It's just a really fun movie. Even though it's really funny and scary and creepy, it still has a good story about making a family and making friends.
Does it bother you to see these gory zombies, or does it kind of take the scares out of it when you see them smoking a cigarette at the craft services table?
I mean, it's kind of crazy. Even though they're bloody and gross and they're supposed to be trying to kill us, in real life, they're just people with fake blood on. You'll talk to them between takes: "Hey, what's up? How's your lunch?"
You've worked with a lot of big actors and that's almost become the norm for you. Is there anyone left in the industry who would be intimidating for you to meet?
Hmm, let me think. Well, I would love to work with Meryl Streep. She's, like, my favorite actress. That would be very intense. I met her briefly once -- I was walking past her on a press line, so you can't really stop and talk there. It was unfortunate.
Do you approach acting in a different way now than you did when you were, say, eight years old?
I guess I sort of put myself in the character's shoes, and every character is sort of different. I treat each one differently because you have to do different things in different movies.
But do you ever go back and look at earlier performances and think, "Oh, if I knew then what I know about acting now..."
Yeah, I mean...yeah. I learned how to do different things and there's always certain things you see and you're like, "Oh, I wish I'd done that differently."
What kinds of different things did you learn on Zombieland?
Well, I learned that fake blood tastes really bad.
Why were you tasting it, Abigail? By accident?
No, I had to...I don't even know! It's hard, I had it on my arm in one scene, and then I had to...I don't know. I learned how to shoot a gun. Learning how to shoot a gun is a pretty crazy thing to learn.
What have you worked on recently?
I'm just finishing up a movie called Janie Jones. It's with Alessandro Nivola, and it's about a girl who meets her dad for the first time and he's, like, this burned-out rock star. I actually get to sing in it, which I'm excited about.
Have you ever sung on-screen before?
Nope, never. It was nerve-racking, but it was exciting.
Did you get along well with Alessandro? I just saw him in the Coco Chanel movie, where he speaks French the entire time.
He's great. He's so nice. He's just really cool. He's a great singer and a great guitar player, too -- he can play a ton of songs on the guitar, which is really cool. He can sing, like, anything. He's just really great.
I know Sofia Coppola just shot a movie that's sort of similar called Somewhere, with Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning. Are you familiar with that movie? Could you tell me how yours is different?
Um, no. I don't know what movie that is. Janie Jones is a different character, and definitely different from Little Rock. It's a drama, so...it's sad.
Your brother Spencer is an actor, too, and you're filming different movies all the time. Do you get to see each other very much?
Well, we live together, so it's sort of hard to avoid each other. [Laughs] Yeah, we see each other. We see each other a lot.
Did you ever see that episode of Saturday Night Live where Drew Barrymore played you?
Um, no.