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Toni Collette and Greg Kinnear are looking back on their Little Miss Sunshine days.
The cast of the film spoke to PEOPLE at a special 20th anniversary screening of the film at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 28. Speaking about the iconic van at the center of the film, Collette and Kinnear both expressed that they once wanted to buy the vehicle.
“We both considered buying it at the end of the movie. I’d wanted one since I was 17 years old,” said Collette, who was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role as Sheryl in the film. “I think Peter Saraf [A producer on the film] did take it, but he got harassed everywhere he went because it is the Little Miss Sunshine van.”
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“That would’ve been an awkward auction,” Kinnear said. “Me and Toni bidding on that thing and scrambling to try and get our hands on it. He continued, “I mean also of course it would’ve been an iconic vehicle, but we didn’t know that at the time.”
The van, a yellow Volkswagen Type 2, can now be found at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Collette once took her son to visit the museum, unaware that the van was showcased there.
“I didn’t know it was there. I took my son and then there it was. So I’m like, oh, come on, we’ve got to take photos,” said Collette.
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Little Miss Sunshine was released in July 2006 to rave reviews. The film follows a hilariously dysfunction family as they make an 800-mile journey across the U.S. so that Olive, played by Abigail Breslin, can compete in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant.
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At the Oscars, Breslin received a Best Supporting Actress nomination at just 10 years old, while Alan Arkin won Best Supporting Actor for the role of grandpa Edwin Hoover. Screenwriter Michael Arndt won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Little Miss Sunshine is available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu.
