In "Little Miss Sunshine", movie veteran Alan Arkin and nine year old Abigail Breslin have unmistakable chemistry as a grandfather and granddaughter in a dysfunctional family, so it was no surprise to see them together for an interview. They star, along with a strong ensemble cast of Steve Carell, Paul Dano, Toni Collete, and Greg Kinnear, in a road trip comedy that that shows how adversity reminds a family how to support its members. Below, they discuss the excitement of running after a moving van, the dynamics of a large, talented cast, and the difficulty of delivering explicit lines in the presence of tender ears.

Q: Who helped whom most in working out your characters?

ALAN: (To Abigail) Don’t lie.

ABIGAIL: I don’t know.

Q: How did you prepare for your scenes together?

ALAN: We did it the way everybody does it all the time. You rehearse a little bit, then you shoot the film, then you have lunch.

Q: Alan, how did you brace Abigail for some of the things you would be saying throughout the movie?

ALAN: She had the script, so it’s not like it was a surprise.

Q: Did you make an apology up front?

ALAN: I think I did.

ABIGAIL'S MOTHER : He was such a gentleman, truly. She never heard anything.

ALAN: I wouldn’t do any of the scenes on the bus unless she had her earphones on.

ABIGAIL: I didn’t hear anything.

ALAN: But she’s seen the movie fifty times.

ABIGAIL: I always wondered what was going on.

Q: Abigail, how much rehearsal did you have to do get your dance scenes down?

ABIGAIL: I don’t know. We practiced through the whole movie. I practiced at home. I had a really great choreographer.

ALAN: Between takes, I’d show Abigail dance steps, but she never used any of them.

Q: ABIGAIL: Were you nervous for that scene at all?

ABIGAIL: I think that you always get nervous when you see a bunch of people sitting down and waiting for you. I was a little nervous, but once I did it a couple of times, it got funner and funner.

Q: What was it like to have to run after the bus throughout the movie? Was it scary?

ABIGAIL: It wasn’t scary.

ALAN: Yeah, it was. The first time, it was scary.

ABIGAIL: The rest of the time, it wasn’t that scary for me. But then, when we went to do reshoots, we saw the movie and that was a little scary because I had to run back in again. It looked fast.

Q: Abigail, tell us about the fat suit you had to wear?

ABIGAIL: I wore padding. I can’t say that I miss it. It was kind of uncomfortable. Actually, a few weeks after we stopped doing the movie, I felt different without it on.

Q: ALAN: What would you say is the difference between doing drama and comedy?

ALAN: Each project presents its own separate problems. I can’t say which is easier.

Q: Alan, what was it like working with two directors?

ALAN: We were all nervous. They hadn’t done a film before. That’s a red flag going up. Two people directing, that’s another red flag. I said, “I’m uncomfortable about it. Are both of you going to be talking?” They said, “Yeah, its fine. We’ve worked together a long time.” But we all felt the script was so good that we had to do the script. We took a chance. It turned out that everything they said about the way they work was true. You could talk to one person and they didn’t feel like they had to check with the other person. They were always available. They’re like one person; they think the same way, they feel the same way. I think they each have different things that they’re better at, but I didn’t even pick that up particularly. Everybody was on the same page for the whole film. You can see it, you can feel it. It was a very joyous experience.

Q: Abigail, what was it like working with the older actors?

ABIGAIL: I had a lot of fun on it. I’ve only done two movies with kids in it, so I didn’t really feel intimidated. A lot of my friends are like, “I would be so shy.” I’m not shy and they’re like, “I know. You yell out the window.”

ALAN: We’d be locked in the bus sometimes for hours and hours and there was no air conditioning and it was about ninety-five degrees out. Nobody ever complained and Abigail didn’t have any special treatment. She was just part of the group. She didn’t have to talk down to us at all.

Q: Abigail, have you considered entering a beauty contest after doing this movie?

ABIGAIL: I don’t know if I would really want to do a beauty pageant because it’s such hard work. I know all the little girls (from the movie) work very hard.

Q: Alan, how did you get involved with this project?

ALAN: It was around for a while. I kept hearing about it and it just happened. They finally got me the script, which I’d been hearing about for about six, eight months. I started reading it and I said, “This is nuts. This is depressing and nuts.” Then on page twenty I started laughing like a lunatic and I started pacing. The minute I start pacing I know its something I’ve gotta be connected with.

Q: What was the dynamic between all of the actors like?

ALAN: It just felt like you were on a team where everybody was on the same page. Everybody was doing the same kind of work. Everybody was doing the same event. You could tell everybody thought it was a funny movie, but you had to address it very seriously, or else it was going to be a disaster. You felt this sense of care and carefulness about every scene. You always felt constantly supported. I felt that everybody’s vision of the script miraculously merged.

Q: How much of this character do you feel is you?

ALAN: My back story was that he played lousy saxophone in a strip club for a long time and then finally got fired because he got too interested in the dope and the broads and he was just sort of a nere-do-well, surviving on gambling and friends for the last fifteen years of his life until his son takes him in.

Q: Given the strength of the script, did you improvise much?

ALAN: A little, tiny bit. The script was very, very strong, but every once in a while I felt comfortable throwing in a line.

Q: What was your favorite part about filming this movie?

ABIGAIL: Either the dance, or running into the van.

ALAN: My favorite line I’ve ever said in a movie was in this one and I couldn’t get through it. I kept laughing. I turn to my grandson and I say, “I have some advice for you. Duane—that’s your name, right?” I think I had to do it about ten times.

Q: We heard grandpa’s advice for Duane. Did you have any advice for Paul (Dano) or Abigail?

ALAN: They didn’t ask me. They didn’t need my advice. Paul is a brilliant actor. I liked him at first, but each time I see the film, I realize how incredibly subtle and right on he is.

Q: Alan, with all the roles that you’ve done, is there anything that you still want to do before, you know, you push off?

ALAN: Before I what?

Q: You push off.

ALAN: Before I die? You’re getting morbid on me? I was feeling pretty good here for a minute. Give me a couple of years. I’m not looking for any great challenges. There was a long time where I desperately wanted to play a great musician. I don’t care any more. I would have loved to have played Beethoven.

Q: Any directors that you want to work with?

ALAN: They’re all dead. I would have mopped the floor for Jean Renoir.

Q: What are you working on next?

ALAN: My garden.

ABIGAIL: I’m not really sure yet.

Abigail’s Mother: Fractions.

ALAN: In other words, you’re out of work.

"Little Miss Sunshine" opens in limited release July 26th.