Rango: An Interview with Abigail Breslin

I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Abigail Breslin, famous from her breakout role in Little Miss Sunshine for which she garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She is a diminutive figure who packs a whallop into each of her performances. She is one of the youngest Academy Award nominees ever, and her career is on a trajectory for stardom.

Breslin was in San Francisco the day after walking the red carpet in Los Angeles for the premier of the animated film, Rango where she plays the part of the scruffy mouse, Priscilla.

Paramount Pictures - Nickelodeon present ILM's (Industrial Light and Magic's) first full-length animated movie on March 4, 2011. Rango is about a troubled chameleon that is having an identity crisis (quite ironic for a changeable creature). Along his journey he finds himself in a western town called "Dirt", and it is here where he discovers who he is and what he's made of. There are wonderfully colorful characters who guide him on his journey, including Priscilla, voiced by Abigail Breslin, and Rango, voiced by Johnny Depp. Priscilla is a vocal mouse who first disapproves of Rango and doubts his intentions. But she is just as surprised as he is with his determination and strength.

What was unique about the making of Rango is the environment Gore Verbinski, the director, created to capture the authenticity of emotions through the actor's voices. Rather than use traditional 'sound booth capture' that Disney, Pixar and DreamWorks use, Gore created a real set complete with costumes where the actors were shut away for nearly 3 weeks to play-act the script. This allowed them to actually work side-by-side unlike other animated films where actors usually voice their characters solo in a booth. Gore captured what he calls a "raw and kinetic" quality to differentiate it from the vocal performances of other animated films.

Verbinski first came up with the premise for Rango back in 2005 while still filming Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (which holds the record for the highest opening weekend of all time). Verbinski pitched the movie to Depp who loved the idea of playing a reptile. During a three week break, Gore was able to get all of the essential actors together in one place to piece a remarkable animated movie built from the ground up. Together with talented artists and ILM (Industrial Light and Magic), Gore was able to craft a story he'd been dreaming about since 2003. Breslin's character in the movie, Priscilla, was the first drawing the animators completed, even before Rango. Gore hand picked Breslin to voice her character.

Below is my interview with Abigail Breslin:

Q: You just flew in last night from the premier in Los Angeles. How was the ride?

Breslin: I just came up here last night. It was a roller coaster ride (there was a storm brewing).

Q: Your character has a southern accent. Was that intentional?

Breslin: Yes, Gore had a specific way he wanted Priscilla to sound. He did not want her to have a "pretty" southern accent; he wanted her to be rough. So I worked with a dialect coach. I'm from New York. I have a non, neutral accent. It can go any way you want.

Q: When you first saw your animated character drawing, what was your initial reaction?

Breslin: Well she was the first character that the animators had finished completely, even before Rango. I mean come on, the movie should be called "Priscilla" (laughter). That's what she'd like to think. I had seen a photo before we started filming, I thought she was so adorable, a glamour girl beyond belief. I love her. It's hard to be the glamour girl in town sometimes.

Q: How long did you work with your dialect coach?

Breslin: In New York, two days. In L.A. I worked with the other dialect coach every day. So before work I would have the dialogue on my iPod so I could listen. I was supposed to be listening to it. If I dropped out of accent Gore would send the dialect coach over and then I could see whenever I was talking to the dialect coach if Gore was flipped out (kidding).

Q: Were you aware before you took this role that you would have live acting, not the typical sound booth format?

Breslin: They said this was an animated movie. At the time I was in New York and this (voice work) was in Los Angeles. This is a really cool way to do this because you get to play off of the other characters which is great.

Q. What do you feel is the appeal of Rango to adults and children?

Breslin: Basically this is a western animated movie, it's really fun and crazy, but it has a good story to it. The animals are just adorable too. It's just a really fun movie that any age can enjoy. There's stuff in it for adults and stuff in it for children.

Q: You did guest appearances on Law and Order, how do you enjoy working on TV and do you think you'll do more guest spots?

Breslin: I'd like to do more TV, TV is completely different that working in movies in a lot of ways, it's like making a really compact movie. Because you don't have as much time, especially hour long shows, they move so quickly. There are tons of TV shows that I love. So yes.

Q: Your character in Rango, Priscilla, how would you say her character evolved from when she first met Rango and has that initial disbelief in him?

Breslin: Priscilla learns to be more trusting of people and believe in something. At first she doesn't believe in him, she's a little jaded. She does not believe him at first but learns to be a little more trusting of people (toward the end of the film).

Q: How did you get involved with Rango?

Breslin: I first got a sketch of Priscilla and a note from Gore. Once I learned more about this movie I really wanted to do this movie. That's how I got involved with the movie. It's an awesome, fun movie.

Q: Did you tease Johnny Depp about getting an Oscar nomination before him?

Breslin: No - I think Johnny Depp is way further along that I am. (Laughter)

Q: You started out in business when you were about three?

Breslin: (Laughter) In business when I was three, three in business? Yes, I did my first commercial when I was three. I made my first movie when I was five.

Q: How do you stay grounded being an actress at such a young age?

Breslin: I think that when I'm done making a movie, I'm done and go home. Obviously there are pressures that come along with the job, press and all that stuff. Honestly there are much more important things in the world. A movie is on the lower scale of what's important.

Q: What sort of challenges did you face in working with animation and how did you like working in an animated setting.

Breslin: I liked doing animated. I love animated movies in general. I like making them. But it's definitely a lot harder to rely on your voice a lot. And that can be difficult because you can't use your face as much (to portray the emotion). They did use our facial expressions and emotions and add them to the animation which was cool.

Q: How do you balance work and school? Are you home schooled?

Breslin: I was having fun until you brought up school (laughter). Downer. I'm home schooled, I do school online. When I am working I have a tutor on set.

Q: If you weren't an actor, what would you be doing?

Breslin: For a long I would say a veterinarian or fashion designer. I would like to do something like a video game tester. Or a roller coaster tester. I'd say, 'that was fun, but I need to ride it again'; I need to do it again to get the details down. I'd take advantage of my job.

Q: Do you have an Oscar pick for best movie?

Breslin: Top three, "The Social Network", "The King's Speech", and I loved "Toy Story 3." I'm not attending this year. Those are my top three. All three were amazing. I don't vote in the Oscars because they changed the rules I think the year I got nominated.

Q: What was it like working with Gore and Depp?

Breslin: They were both really great. Gore is very specific about what he wants but he also let's you experiment, which is a really cool thing to do. So I really liked working with him. Johnny was just such a nice guy, very approachable. He's a really, really nice guy. The scene in the movie where Priscilla and Rango met, it's exactly how we made it (on set). Pointing and everything was really similar (to the animation).

Q: When you're choosing projects is there something specific you look for?

Breslin: I choose based on if the character is someone I'd like to know and I also like to play strong girls because I'm not myself because maybe it'll rub off some day. As you get older the roles get older too. I don't still get scripts for six year olds, unfortunately!

Rango opens in theaters March 4, 2011
Directed by Gore Verbinski
Actors: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Timothy Olyphant, Bill Nighy, Ned Beatty
Writers: John Logan, Gore Verbinski, James Ward Byrkit