Little Miss Sunshine/Trivia

• Actor Allusion: Sheryl tells her daughter "look at me" when the latter gets upset and needs someone to talk to. When else has she done that to her kid?
• Cast the Expert: The girls at the pageant are real life pageant competitors.
• Dawson Casting: Dwayne is 15 and was played by 22 year old Paul Dano. Also ties into Playing Gertrude, as Toni Collette is only 12 years older than Dano and is playing his mother.
• Enforced Method Acting: During the Corruption of a Minor scene, Alan Arkin deliberately told Abigail Breslin to tune up the volume of her CD player so she won't hear the Cluster F Bombs and Precision F Strikes.
• Fake American: Toni Collette is Australian.
• Hey, It's That Guy!: Bryan Cranston and Dean Norris from Breaking Bad both appear in this movie, along with Steve Carell from The Office and Wallace Langham from CSI working as a pageant employee with a Porn Stache.
• Playing Against Type: Steve Carell, whose type really hadn't been established yet, but has not since played a role this subtle and understated.
• Star-Making Role: For Abigail Breslin.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Thomas Haden Church was offered the role of Richard but turned it down. He later regretted this decision.
  • Bill Murray was the original choice to play Frank, the second being Robin Williams.
• Word Of God: Dwayne is Sheryl's son from a previous marriage, making him Olive's step-brother and Richard's step-son.