Interview: Patrick Wilson on Playing an ‘Alcoholic A-Hole' in Millers in Marriage

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22-02-2025

Millers in Marriage star Patrick Wilson spoke to ComingSoon's Tyler Treese about the family drama. Wilson spoke about working with director Edward Burns, playing an unlikeable character, and more. The film is out now in theaters and on digital starting today, February 21, 2025.
'A tale of three middle-aged married couples coming to grips with universal questions about marriage and fidelity, professional success and failure, and the challenge of finding a second act,' says the synopsis for Millers in Marriage.
Tyler Treese: Millers in Marriage is a very ambitious movie in terms of its structure. There are three different marriages that are being examined. Kind of reminded me of Hannah and Her Sisters a bit, the Woody Allen movie. What about this project really grabbed your interest?
Patrick Wilson: Ed Burns, we did a movie together, God, probably 17-18 years ago, something like that. He's the kind of guy that when he calls you even out of the blue, and it has probably been 15 years, it's a very easy conversation. If you're free, you're gonna go work with him 'cause it's the kind of story, the kind of honest, skilled storytelling that he's gonna do that he does time and time again.
It's funny you bring up Hannah and Her Sisters. He's sort of fallen into this, taking the reins of Woody Allen from New York marriage and relationship movies, and likes to reflect kind of, I'm sure, where he is in life, both the good and the not-so-good. Whether it's him or friends that he's around or friends that he grew up with. You don't see movies like this a lot, and I've been looking for relationship movies that kind of reflect what people in their late forties or fifties that we're all kind of going through. You see it explored more in TV, but you don't see it explored in film. So to really have the time and the vision to put it on the screen as something that was an easy yes.
You mentioned that you worked with Ed before. How was it just seeing that evolution because he's had a very long and successful career? What stood out about him as a director?
I mean, his ease, his skill, and his comfort. He's both skilled and not precious. It's not like he's flying through things going, 'I don't know. I don't know.' You know, man, move on. It's 'I got it. We're good.' He puts together a team of people and from the top down.
I mean, Aaron Lubin is producing. All his DPs, all the people that he's worked with, that I worked with a hundred years ago. I mean, he's got his group of people, and it's a very, very fluid process. So that you come in and you got some ideas and he guides you a few ways and you're kind of in and out. He lets you explore. It lets you swing a big stick and reigns you in when he needs to.
He knows what he wants. But it's never forced on you. It's the best kind of directing where you can kind of let you explore it. 'What do you want to try? Go for it.' 'Okay.' Maybe guide you this way. So there's an ease and a comfort both as a human and as a filmmaker that makes it a really enjoyable process, you know?
Certainly, for people who have been around, it's refreshing. So it's both a pressure-free and precious-free environment, which is always great to do.
One aspect of Millers in Marriage that I found refreshing was that all of the characters are very flawed individuals. They're very human. Your character can be a dick. So, what was the process of making that characteristic stand out and not veering off into one-note territory? But also in real life people can be a dick. So, how is it kind of finding that balance?
That's different for me. I've played bad guys, but usually, when you play like a bad guy, he's so bad on the page that it's almost easier to go, 'You know what? I can play 'em the other way.' Because you're gonna see that terrible side regardless if it's terrible by action or it's a murderer or something. But with this, he's not a good guy, or he is certainly not a good guy at this time of his life. That's what attracted me to it. Eddie had said, 'Who do you want to play?' And I said, 'I'd like to play Scott. I don't get to play kind of the alcoholic a-hole very much.'
And you're right, he's it. Some people are just dicks… I mean, they just are. And that's him right now. So it was a little, I can't say it was super comfortable, you know, because we would do three and four takes, and some would be very subtle, and some might really lay into sweet Gretchen Mol, who was great in the movie, but I kept going, 'God, I'm just terrible to you.'
But that's how my character fits into the story, you know? So you can't be afraid of that. You can't apologize for that. You just kind of have to dive in. So I can't say it was fun, but it's certainly rewarding. 'Cause then you can see how he's gotta be kind of a ballast. You gotta be a point to Benjamin Bratt's character and how Ben comes in. So, everybody kind of fits into the puzzle. So you've gotta really make sure that you go full throttle on yours to make the others work, if that makes sense.
You mentioned Gretchen, she's great in the film, and I wanted to ask about that chemistry. Because It's a special type of chemistry. It's not like you're bubbly together. This is very much a strained relationship. So, can you speak to find that chemistry where you're at each other's throats a bit? How is it finding that?
Yeah. Well, she's so nice. There's a safety in that, when someone gets along. Also, I think when you go into an Ed Burns movie, right? Ed gets people together, if you get along with him, which 99% of the people in the world will, everybody's kind of circling him. He's really the north star for us or the sun, like whatever metaphor you want to use. So his energy dictates how we all are on set. He's so easy and comfortable that you want to be easy and comfortable.
It actually allows you to, when you've got a scene where you're really at somebody's throat, to go full throttle because there's never a discomfort once you yell, 'Cut!' you're really good friends and all having a great time together.
So that actually helps. I think it would be hard to be really mean and rude in a set that's really tense. 'cause You kind of don't know where it ends. But these sets are super fun and rewarding, and you're also dealing with people that have been… You look at the cast, I mean, there's hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of movies between all of us. So, you can deal with a bunch of pros.
So we come in there to work and have a good time. And when you have that safety, then you can actually let loose. And if it's let loose in an angry and violent way, then almost that's a lot easier when it's a comfortable set, if that makes sense.
It's the 20th anniversary for Hard Candy. I thought that was a really great movie. I really enjoyed it. How do you kind of look back on that film? You and Elliot Page just had so many great scenes in that.
Yeah, yeah. You know, there was a time during Covid when people were doing all these script read-throughs. Like Zoom reads of movies, and we got approached to do one, and then it fizzled.
I always remember that. Because I don't think I've looked at a frame of that movie and certainly thought about it other than fans or something saying, 'Hey, I love that.' But you know, usually my go-to as soon as someone says, 'I love that movie,' and I go, 'Well, that says quite a lot about you.'
But yeah, we shot the movie in what, 18-19 days? I mean, it was really like this crazy exercise. I'm super proud of the movie still. I think the movie holds up even in the tech landscape. You know, a lot of movies from that era just kind of dissipate with an iPhone [laughs. And that holds up. You know, and I'm super proud of all our performances and yeah, I love that movie. I can't believe it's been 20 years. That's crazy.
I really enjoyed your directorial debut, which was .
Thank you.
That's a horror movie, but the family drama aspect was also very surprisingly strong. I remember really enjoying that part of it, which is sort of what we see in Millers in Marriage as well. But are you looking to do more directing going forward?
Yeah, yeah. I'm looking at a couple things. I've been fortunate to have a few things thrown my way, but haven't really found the right film yet. Then there's a couple that are certainly outside of that genre that I'm pushing uphill for me to direct and shepherd from just inception, I guess. So that's exciting to do. So, yeah, I spend most of my day thinking about what I'm gonna direct next [laughs]. It's a true story.
Thanks to Patrick Wilson for taking the time to talk about Millers in Marriage.
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