2015 Sundance Trading Card Series: #35. Logan Miller (Take Me to the River)

Eric Lavallee: Name me three of your favorite “2014 discoveries” …
Logan Miller: Alejandro Jodorowsky’s graphic novel The Incal, Raymond Pettibon, and the Private island where Biggie, Tupac, and Elvis are currently living on.

Lavallee: In Take Me to the River, you take on the lead role. Was wondering if you could discuss Ryder’s emotional story arch and give some insight on how he perceives the world and the people who surround him?
Miller: With his newfound lifestyle, Ryder comes into our story with the mindset that his extended family will have a lack of understanding of who he is. What he comes to find out is the lack of understanding is coming from him. After the the incident that occurs with Ryder and Molly, a stream of past issues with the family begin to reveal themselves, showing Ryder that there is more at stake here then he could of ever imagined. Once this all comes out, Ryder has to take matters into his own hands and be the one to try to mend these open wounds that have been around even before he was born. In the end Ryder comes out with a broader perspective that while things might not ever be fixed in the past, we can at least understand where we come from.

Lavallee: Your filmography includes work with a distinct auteur set. With parts in films by Sofia Coppola, Kelly Reichardt, and latest Sundance films from Kyle Patrick Alvarez and Matt Sobel… could you specifically discuss your choice to work with material that is psychologically darker and emotionally more complex.
Miller: With films like these and being in the position I am I don’t really get to choose what I do next. The auditions come and you say “Hey that sounds like an amazing premise” and you hope and pray you don’t mess it up so you can get a chance to work with all these great people. When I do get the lucky chance to work on these projects, I always find a relatable quality with the film, the filmmakers and myself. In movies like these you have to tend to be on the same wave length and be a specific personality to make content like this work. I’ve always been drawn to darker material in all genres of film and entertainment. I find it very freeing to acknowledge the vicious underbelly of life. We as people always tend to run away from the things that make us cringe or bring an unsettling feeling in our stomach, but if we choose to confront these feelings and have a better understanding of why these moments and situations make us feel the way we do, we can become more self aware.