Toni Collette compares herself to her ''Little Miss Sunshine'' role

SHERYL HOOVER / TONI COLLETTE

ROAD TRIPPER

SHERYL HOOVER
In the film, the Hoovers drive across three states in a run-down VW bus. Sheryl briefly loses her daughter, helps filch a cadaver, and flips out on her deluded husband (Greg Kinnear).

TONI COLLETTE
At 18, Collette and four gal pals drove 17 hours from Sydney for a folk festival. ”It was weeks of brilliance,” Collette says. ”We slept on beaches, swam with dolphins. I’ve never felt so free!”

CENTER PEACE

SHERYL HOOVER
”Sheryl’s surrounded by chaos, and she’s the grounded one holding all the kite strings. She’s a very practical, logical person.”

TONI COLLETTE
”I guess I’m pretty practical, although I have a slightly more dreamy quality at times. I tend to go off on tangents in my mind.”

MOTHER LOVE

SHERYL HOOVER
”She’s selfless — she would die for her kids. And that kind of love is what life’s all about.”

TONI COLLETTE
”I’m not a mother, but I plan to have kids. I hope I’m as good a mum as I am a screen mum!”

CHOWHOUND

SHERYL HOOVER
As a family feud brews, Sheryl chomps on a Popsicle like a frenzied beaver — an unscripted bit of comedy that Collette dreamed up herself. ”It’s a frustrating moment, and instead of exploding, she literally swallows it. Ouch.”

TONI COLLETTE
Recently, a famished Collette wolfed down doughnut holes at an airport in Thailand. ”I was shoving them in my mouth like I was gonna die if I didn’t. My friend told me later there was an Australian family watching in horror.”