Abigail Breslin and 'Hunger Games' News
You might have noticed that 14-year-old Abigail Breslin's been in the news a good deal in recent weeks, for three distinct reasons. She attended the premiere of her latest movie Rango last week, she was cast in her next movie Innocence shortly after, and then she dropped some hints about which movie she'd like to film down the road. (Can you guess what it was?)
In Rango, Abigail voices Priscilla, a tough, morbid mouse living in a western town plagued by bandits. Of her costar Johnny Depp, who voices the title character, she said, "He was a very nice guy. We filmed all of our scenes together, that was really great to do. We got to play off the other actors -- we sort of filmed it like a play, it was very fun." (I love that "like a play" comment. After all, the girl's performed on Broadway now.)
But Abigail also clarified that she would've taken the role in Rango regardless of getting to work with the Pirates of the Caribbean star. "She's really different than any other characters I've played," she said about Priscilla. "She's out of her mind! I would have just done it based on how cute she is." Rango is set for wide release on March 4.
Abigail at the February 14 premiere of Rango at Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles
On the heels of that came news that Abigail had been cast in upcoming vampire flick Innocence. She'll play a young teen who, after the death of her mother, is sent by her father to an elitist boarding private school, only to discover that it's run by vampires. The film is being described (much to our relief) as a dramatic thriller more along the lines of Chloe Moretz's Let Me In than Twilight. Julianne Moore will costar.
Of course, comparisons between Innocence and Twilight are bound to be made, but Abigail's ready for them. She's already established as a huge Twilight fan (she regularly attends the movies' New York premieres) and in a recent interview, she confessed she's picked sides in the Edward-Jacob battle. I have to say, kudos to her for that. Remember how Chloe Moretz and Kiernan Shipka both refused to pick sides? But Abigail loses points for keeping her pick a secret. "I don't want to say," she answered when asked if she was Team Jacob or Team Edward. "I'm afraid people are going to kill me. I'm on a team, but I'm not going to say."
But what really got people buzzing was when Abigail joined the list of young actresses who want a part in the still-uncast Hunger Games movie. Chloe Moretz, Jodelle Ferland, and Isabelle Fuhrman have all said that they covet the role of Katniss Everdeen. (You might remember that Jodelle dressed as Katniss for Halloween.) Abigail said in an interview with MTV, "Obviously I would love to play Katniss. All the characters in the books are amazing. It's a very cool book. The characters in it are very strong and very cool. It's an amazing series."
As if that weren't enough, Hailee Steinfeld and Elle Fanning's recent photoshoot with Vanity Fair has generated that the two would be perfect for the roles of tough heroine Katniss (Hailee) and her sweet little sister Prim (Elle). I'm not buying into that one because Hailee looks too young to play 16, Elle looks too old to play 12, and I'm almost certain she's taller than Hailee. I hope The Hunger Games roles will be cast soon, just so the speculation will stop. As much as I enjoy considering all the possibilities, it's becoming a bit tiring. But just for the record, my pick for Katniss is Jodelle Ferland.
Finally, a few other starlets who were at premiere of Rango:
Peyton List, 12, and Stefanie Scott, 14 (Stefanie costarred with Madeline Carroll in Flipped and played the young Natalie Portman in No Strings Attached)
Rachel Fox, 14, Sammi Hanratty, 15, and Jenette McCurdy, 18