Jenna Ortega and Martin Freeman starrer Miller’s Girl was released in theaters on January 26, after its premiere at the Palm Springs Film Festival on January 11. The movie was written and directed by Jade Halley Bartlett, who developed the movie as a play and later sold the spec script to Seth Rogen’s Point Grey Pictures. Before the film’s production began in September 2022, Bartlett revealed that she had to beg Freeman to meet with her to discuss the film.
Miller’s Girl explores the complicated relationship between a teacher and a student which begins to unfold after a creative writing assignment. The film has left some audience members uncomfortable due to the intimate scenes between a 21-year-old Ortega and a 52-year-old Freeman.
Miller’s Girl Director Begged Martin Freeman To Take The Role
Miller’s Girl continues to draw the audience’s attention for both the right and wrong reasons. While the promising cast has people talking, many critics did not find the movie very impressive. The film’s director Jade Halley Bartlett revealed that she has weaved the story in such a way that no character is “entirely on one end of the spectrum of good and evil.”
Speaking to Bleeding Cool, Bartlett shared that the inspiration for the film was the 1956 film, The Bad Seed, which was suggested to her by a friend. She created the first iteration of the script with the character Cairo at its center, describing the story as the “birth of a villain”. When asked about the casting of the film, Bartlett revealed that both Jenna Ortega and Martin Freeman had “insane chemistry” in the movie.
Bartlett revealed that she had to go the extra mile to cast Freeman in the film. She wrote a letter to him, literally begging him to meet with her. When he finally agreed, they spoke to each other for two hours about the character. Bartlett shared that the Sherlock actor fully understood the character and its context. She revealed that the movie was greenlit once Freeman signed on to the film. Bartlett shared with Bleeding Cool:
“[Martin Freeman and Jenna Ortega] worked incredibly well together. Their chemistry is insane. I wrote Martin a letter, and I begged him. I said, ‘Please meet with me,’ and he did. We spoke for about two hours, and he understood the character. He understood the context, and he’s so thoughtful and intelligent. Martin signed on, and we got the movie greenlit.”
Miller’s Girl received a 32% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience score stands at an abysmal 45%. The website consensus mentioned that the narrative of the film was “superficial” despite the “real-world relevance” of the movie’s central concept.
Meeting Jenna Ortega Felt Like “Kismet” For Miller’s Girl Director
Jade Halley Bartlett cast a wide net in search of the perfect fit for the role of Cairo in the film. When she finally met Jenna Ortega, the director shared that she was “disarmed” by the Wednesday actress. Ortega talked about some of her character’s traits to Bartlett, who had never vocalized them aloud. Bartlett revealed that meeting Ortega felt like kismet in a way. She shared:
“We had a robust search for Cairo, and then I met Jenna, and she disarmed me. She said things about the character that I had never vocalized aloud, which sort of felt like kismet, in a way.”
She also praised the other cast members in the film, Gideon Adlon, Dagmara Domińczyk, and Bashir Salahuddin, who worked incredibly well together. Interestingly, Bartlett revealed that the title of her next work after Miller’s Girl is mentioned somewhere in the film. She added that it is the book that Domińczyk’s character is writing in the film.
