One For The Ages

There is a delightful symmetry that Abigail Breslin and Alan Arkin each garnered Academy Award nominations for their performances in "Little Miss Sunshine." Arkin, as the drug-taking, porn-loving fussbudget with a tender heart, and Breslin, the sweet-souled engine that inadvertently makes her family whole again, are an unlikely pair, and yet their on-screen connection and affection for each other is palpable.

"You really never know when you cast a movie," says Valerie Faris, director of the film with her husband, Jonathan Dayton. "You don't get to audition people together or even see them together until the first day of rehearsal. Alan was so wonderful with Abby, and she just immediately took to Alan. That's what you hope will happen, and I do think that comes through."

About midway through the film, the two characters share a motel room for the night, and after practicing growling — part of the child's upcoming pageant performance — there is a delicately touching moment that is emotionally crucial to the film.

Breslin delivers a staggering performance as her sunny disposition turns suddenly cloudy and darkens, and she begins to cry as she confesses her fear of being a loser. Arkin, his crotchety character now in the position of counselor and cheerleader, says just the right things and cheers her right up.

Asked to recall shooting the scene, Breslin says matter-of-factly, "I thought about my grandpa. He passed away, so I was thinking about him."

As to how he daringly disregarded an age-old show-biz axiom, Arkin says, "I've spent a lot of time acting with kids, and animals, and everybody says it's difficult but I loved working with her. She's an old pro. Abigail's got the technique of a 40-year-old woman under that little belt."

This is not to say Arkin wasn't aware of the difficult sweet-and-sour balance the film sought. "The movie had a very specific tone," he says, "and I was really concerned about that. And the first couple of days I was on tenterhooks waiting to see, 'Is there anybody that's going to be making jokes and rolling their eyes?' That would be a million miles away from what Valerie and Jonathan were talking about. And as far as I'm concerned, we stayed on the same page, all of us, and it was a big sigh of relief for me."