McKaley Miller is no stranger to thriller-horror movies as she appeared in the 2019 film Ma which also stars Octavia Spencer as the title character. Now she’s appearing in the film which is out in theatres and digital now. In an exclusive interview with PopCulture.com, Miller talked about what made her want to be in the film that also stars the late Anne Heche and Dermot Mulroney.
“What attracted me to this movie was, I think, immediately, you meet Eden, who’s this very strong, driven, determined woman, who puts herself in these sticky situations to try to help others,” Miller exclusively told PopCulture. “And I thought that was just so admirable and so cool, and I love strong female characters like this. And I loved that the script really kept me on the edge of my seat and took twists and turns that I was not expecting. And it was kind of like a fresh take on a cat in a mouse chasing tail. And I really enjoyed that. And so, the idea of getting to go run, and get sweaty, and cry, and sweat, and blood, and tears, I was so excited about that.”
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In You’re Killing Me, Miller plays Eden who is looking to get into her dream school Pennbrooke College. However, she’s on the waitlist and decides to move up the list by getting her classmate Barrett (Brice Anthony Heller) to get his rich parents (Heche and Mulroney) to write a letter of recommendation. She does this by getting to be friends with him at a party he throws. But things take a left turn when she discovers that his friend Gooch (Will Deursner) has video of the last whereabouts of missing classmate Melissa (Kalli Tehranae), the night becomes of cat-and-mouse game with Barrett and his family and friends against Eden and her friend Zara (Keyara Milliner).
When asked about similarities between You’re Killing Me and Ma, Miller said both films a very different. “I think Ma is more of a fun comedy thriller, whereas You’re Killing Me as more like a suspenseful slasher thriller,” she said. “And so, it was fun on Ma to play with the lighthearted side of Haley, and play with the comedy of that, and be a little bit of the comedic relief. There’s not much comedic relief in You’re Killing Me. It is fun suspense from the get-go. So, there really is not a moment where you’re not like, ‘Oh no, don’t do that. What are you doing?’ So, they both give you different feelings when you watch it.”
You’re Killing Me is also one of the last films that feature Heche as she died in a car accident in August. “She was wonderful,” Miller said when asked about working with Heche. “She brought this incredible energy and these amazing ideas and was just the most vibrant human. And we all feel very lucky that we were able to spend good time with her.”
