Little Miss Cub Reporter
Abigail Breslin's latest role is a Depression-era girl in 'Kit Kittredge'
What would Kit Kittredge do?
That seemed the logical question when the door slammed shut halfway through a recent interview with Abigail Breslin, pint-sized star of "Little Miss Sunshine," "Nim's Island," and now (opening Wednesday in the Boston area) "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl."
Maybe Breslin's publicist was concerned that the 12-year-old actress's giggly answers were growing gigglier during her brief stay in Boston, the last stop of their "American Girl" promotional tour. Or maybe she just didn't appreciate Breslin being asked if she could take Dakota Fanning in a pillow fight (they're pals). Whatever the reason, 16 minutes into our scheduled half-hour chat, the publicist pulled the plug, and suddenly I was replaying the many scenes in this movie where Kit and her trusty reporter's notebook have to find another way around. Fast.
For those who have somehow missed the American Girl juggernaut of books, dolls, and assorted other piggybank killers, Kit Kittredge might best be introduced as the aspiring cub journalist who regularly outwits editors, cops, criminals, parents, and all manner of uptight grownups populating her fact-based fictional life in Depression-era Ohio. She is both clear-eyed and naive enough to think she can pound out the truth on a manual typewriter, although when Breslin first saw the film's antique writing prop she says she was more than a little intimidated.
"I'd never looked at one up close and when I saw it I was like, 'Where is the screen?' " she recalled. "Then they said, 'There is no screen,' and I was like, 'Whoa.' "
Obviously, times have changed.
In this age of webcams and iPods it is anyone's guess whether a G-rated throwback as thoroughly bling-free as "Kit Kittredge" has any hope of grabbing a theatrical audience. But Breslin, true to her latest big-screen character, considers it fun to try. And "Kit Kittredge" director Patricia Rozema thinks it may even be important.
"Wouldn't it be great if this movie showed the makers of movies in general that girls matter?" Rozema ("Mansfield Park") remarked during a recent phone interview from Toronto, where the film was shot in less than four weeks. "It would maybe last about a minute, but it would be great."
American Girl has already proven successful as a book and magazine publisher, and three well-received made-for-television movies were enough to green-light a feature film from a group of producers that includes Julia Roberts. The filmmakers settled on Kit as their focus, then brought in screenwriter Ann Peacock ("The Chronicles of Narnia") to adapt a collection of short stories by Valerie Tripp.
Breslin's "American Girl" makeover includes a short blond wig and fake freckles. Unlike the quirky comedic part that earned Breslin an Academy Award nomination for "Little Miss Sunshine," the mission for Kit is serious: She must find a way to write compellingly about the underrepresented casualties of the Great Depression and try to stay positive while her father (Chris O'Donnell) searches for work in another city, her mother (Julia Ormond) takes in a parade of eccentric boarders, and too many neighbors lose their homes to foreclosure. It takes a village of hobos to teach Kit all she needs to learn about justice and tolerance. But the screenplay also includes playful adventure and a fair amount of humor, supplied by a cast that features Joan Cusack, Stanley Tucci, Jane Krakowski, and Wallace Shawn.
Another young actress might have felt dwarfed by such company, but Abbie, as she is known to friends and family (her brother is actor Spencer Breslin) is already an old pro herself, having started in commercials at age 3. Since then she's graduated to working with stars like Mel Gibson ("Signs"), Kate Hudson ("Raising Helen"), Catherine Zeta-Jones ("No Reservations"), Ryan Reynolds ("Definitely, Maybe"), and Jodie Foster ("Nim's Island"). During the "Kit Kittredge" shoot she also got to hang out with actors closer to her own age, swapping gossip and ghost stories with cast members Madison Davenport, Zach Mills, dreamy Max Thieriot, and Will Smith's latest up-and-coming offspring, Willow Smith.
"It was sort of like being at camp," Breslin said of the experience. And maybe not that much different than life away from the set, which for a 21st-century American girl like Breslin apparently centers on phones, video chatting (the key to today's "virtual sleepovers," said her mother), and lip gloss - lots and lots of lip gloss - her favorite flavor of which is Philosophy Vanilla Birthday Cake.
Just before our interview ended, the actress animatedly recalled the time that she and a cousin concocted their own makeup, a gloppy foundation that "actually worked."
"We looked really good," Breslin crowed. "Mom even said it looked good." (Mom, seated nearby, nodded.)
In director Rozema's experience, the thing that separates Breslin from most other child performers is her ability to just be a kid, even when her handlers would like her to be more of a star.
"She is a very sweet-natured human being, not given to any kind of power plays. She's grounded, not desperate to please," Rozema said. "I think that what often throws young actresses off kilter is this crazy need to charm and be liked."
Breslin seemed uncomfortable with the notion that, particularly as Kit, she might be considered a role model for girls seeking smart, self-assured characters to look up to. ("Oh, well, um . . .," she fumbled. "I just . . . I don't think so.") And even getting back to that aforementioned pillow fight, she wasn't inclined to make a joke at her friend's expense.
"I'm actually terrible at pillow fights," she offered cheerily. "I just tried to have one with my cousin and it was very unsuccessful on my part."
So we don't know whether she can take down Dakota Fanning. But we do know she'll need more than a sack of feathers to try.
And as Kit the reporter eventually learns in her big-screen debut, not every story needs a tidy ending.
Janice Page can be reached at jpage@globe.com. For more on movies, go to boston.com/ae/movies/blog. 