A delightfully dysfunctional family. Little Miss Sunshine quickly became a beloved cult classic after it was released in 2006.
The Oscar-nominated film centers on the Hoovers who take a spur-of-the-moment road trip from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to California after their daughter Olive (Abigail Breslin) qualifies for a beauty pageant. However, with every member of the family dealing with their own personal issues — from suicidal Frank (Steve Carell) to overbearing Richard (Greg Kinnear) and hedonistic grandparent Edwin (Alan Arkin) — the getaway doesn’t go smoothly. After arriving at the pageant with moments to spare, quirky Olive gives an iconic performance of Rick James’ “Super Freak.” Her family joins her onstage to the concern of the pageant directors and the delight of a few fellow weirdos in the audience.
Part of the appeal of Little Miss Sunshine was the dynamic between the various members of the Hoover family, which was a result of the cast’s strong bond. “I remember in rehearsal our directors were trying to establish a family dynamic, and they said, ‘Why don’t you guys get in the van in character and we’ll go drive,'” Paul Dano, who played Dwayne, recalled during an October 2018 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Immediately after they pulled onto the road, Arkin and Kinnear got into an argument about stopping for the bathroom, with the latter insisting that they wait until they arrived at their destination.
“Arkin was like, ‘At the next red light, I’m getting out to pee,'” Dano continued. “And Greg Kinnear ran the next red light. Just because he did not want to give into grandpa, who clearly needed to pee [and] just to piss him off. … And that was the family dynamic.”
While the cast still has fond feelings about working on Little Miss Sunshine, Breslin confessed in July 2021 that she has struggled to get people to separate her from Olive. “Sometimes people forget that I’m 25 years old and not 9 anymore,” she explained to the U.K. news outlet iNews at the time. “People tend to want to keep you in one specific pigeonhole.”
She continued: “I don’t want to disrespect [Little Miss Sunshine]. It’s sweet in a way because I think people felt so emotionally attached to that role and to that film. They want me to be Olive. I understand that. I’ll always have a bit of Olive in me, but I want to try new things.”
Keep scrolling to see what Breslin — and the rest of the cast — have done since Little Miss Sunshine‘s release.
The New York native earned an Oscar nomination at just 10 years old for her performance as the aspiring pageant queen. Breslin has stayed in the spotlight since, starring in everything from the moving drama My Sister's Keeper in 2009 to blockbuster Ender's Game in 2013. She also appeared in in both 2009's Zombieland and its 2019 sequel, Zombieland: Double Tap, as Little Rock. Breslin made her Broadway debut as Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker in 2010 and starred opposite Meryl Streep in the 2012 Oscar nominated film, August: Osage County. Most notably, The former child star appeared in Ryan Murphy's Scream Queens as Chanel No. from 2015 to 2017. In February 2021, Breslin announced that her father, Michael, had died from complications related to COVID-19. She got engaged to longtime boyfriend Ira Kunyansky in February 2022. Shutterstock (2)
After earning critical acclaim as the Hoover family matriarch, Sheryl, the Australia native starred in United States of Tara from 2008 to 2011. Collette won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her performance as a suburban housewife with dissociative identity disorder. In 2013, Collette starred in both The Way, Way Back and Enough Said, following up with films like The Boxtrolls, Fun Mom Dinner and Hereditary. In 2018, she starred in the BBC One drama Wanderlust, which centers on a therapist in a troubled marriage. The next year, she earned Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for her work on Netflix's Unbelievable. She later signed onto two highly anticipated streaming series, Pieces of Her and The Staircase, both of which are set to be released in spring 2022. Collette married musician Dave Galafassi in January 2003. The couple live in Sydney with daughter Sage and son Arlo. Shutterstock (2)
Kinnear played Richard, the type-A, aspiring entrepreneur of the Hoover family, in Little Miss Sunshine. That same year, he starred opposite Mark Wahlberg in Invincible before portraying Tina Fey's love interest in 2008's Baby Mama. In 2010, Kinnear played Miley Cyrus' estranged father in The Last Song, followed by the role of John F. Kennedy in the 2011 miniseries The Kennedys. Kinnear has also starred in Anchorman 2, Brixby Bear and Misbehavior. He married British model Helen Labdon in May 1999 and the couple share three daughters. Shutterstock (2)
Carell played Frank, Sheryl's depressed brother and a disgraced professor, in the film, which was his first high-profile dramatic performance. He was starring as Michael Scott in The Office when Little Miss Sunshine was released, and he remained on the show until 2011. (He also made a cameo in the 2013 series finale.) Carell starred in comedies Evan Almighty in 2007, Get Smart in 2008 and Date Night in 2010, and he has voiced the self-proclaimed super villain Gru in all three Despicable Me films. In 2014, Carell earned an Oscar nomination in 2014 for his portrayal of millionaire and convicted murderer John Eleuthère du Pont in Foxcatcher. He followed that with critically acclaimed performances in The Big Short, Battle of the Sexes, Beautiful Boy and Vice. He began playing controversial TV anchor Mitch Kessler on The Morning Show in 2019 and starred in the Netflix series Space Force in 2020. Carrell married Saturday Night Live alum Nancy Walls in August 1995. They share two children, Annie and Johnny, who were born in May 2001 and June 2004, respectively. Shutterstock (2)
Little Miss Sunshine launched Dano into the mainstream thanks to his dramatic performance as Olive's selectively mute older brother. In 2007, he starred opposite Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood and earned a BAFTA nomination for the role. After several smaller indie films and performances on the stage, Dano earned attention in 2012 for his role as an author whose fictional character comes to life in Ruby Sparks, which was written by Zoe Kazan. That same year, he starred in the time travel thriller Looper. In 2013, Dano had a supporting role in 12 Years a Slave and he later received a Golden Globe nomination for his 2014 performance as Brian Wilson in the biopic Love and Mercy. He made his directorial debut in 2016 with the movie Wildlife, which starred Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal. In October 2019, he was cast as The Riddler in Matt Reeves' The Batman with Robert Pattinson as the titular superhero. Dano has been in a relationship with Kazan since 2007 and they welcomed a daughter in August 2018. Shutterstock (2)
Arkin won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance as the foul-mouthed, drug addict grandfather in Little Miss Sunshine. The New York native, who has had a decades-long career as an actor, writer and director, followed up his win with roles in Marley & Me in 2008 and a cameo in 2011's The Muppets. He was nominated for another Oscar in 2012 for his work in Argo. Arkin has also provided the voice of J.D. Salinger on BoJack Horseman and received two Emmy nominations for the first two seasons of Netflix's The Kominsky Method, on which he starred from 2018 to 2019. Arkin married therapist Suzanne Newlander in 1996. He has three sons: Adam and Matthew, whom he shares with first wife Jeremy Yaffe, and Anthony, whom he shares with second wife Barbara Dana. Shutterstock (2)
Cranston played a minor — but memorable — role in Little Miss Sunshine as Richard's business rival, Stan Grossman. He became a household name two years later when he was cast as Walter White in Breaking Bad. The California native earned six Emmy Awards over the course of the show's five seasons. In addition to supporting roles in The Lincoln Lawyer in 2011 and Argo in 2012, Cranston also made an iconic guest appearance on 30 Rock as Kenneth's father. In 2013, he played President Lyndon B. Johnson on Broadway in All the Way, winning the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for the role, which he later reprised for an HBO film adaptation. Cranston received his first Oscar nomination in 2015 for playing blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo and won his second Tony Award in 2019 for the stage adaptation of Network. Cranston published his best-selling memoir, A Life in Parts, in October 2016 and starred in the Showtime drama Your Honor beginning in 2020. He married Robin Dearden in July 1989 and they welcomed daughter Taylor Dearden — now an actress best known for her roles in Sweet/Vicious and American Vandal — in 1993. Shutterstock (2)
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