A budding actor with 30 credits to his name, the opportunity for Logan Miller to co-star in the soon-to-be-released film The Good Neighbor may be a launching point to stardom for the 24-year-old.
The film releases on Sept. 16 and features James Caan alongside Miller. It is centered around two friends — Ethan, played by Miller, and Sean, played by Keir Gilchrist — who create the illusion of a haunting on their neighbor, Harold Grainey (Caan). To monitor the progress of their prank, the duo have placed Grainey under surveillance when they begin to witness more than they initially bargained for.
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Miller told ComicBook.com that his role was an interesting departure from his past experiences as a teen and voice actor.
“I think Ethan is a really fun character to play and I had an excellent time with him because he’s a bit of a sociopath,” Miller said. “He’s very manipulative in a way, always trying to get what he wants. He will stop at nothing, even being strangely creepy to his friends, in order to accomplish what he wants.”
Even as a mid-20s actor, Miller is aware of the social context that the movie includes, saying that it is not just a suspenseful thriller, but also a commentary on this generation of young people.
“Showing the desensitization of some of these kids; the way that they approach online media. We’re dealing with some kids here who do no understand the repercussions of what they’re doing, which is essentially torturing an old man,” he said. “I think since we’re so far removed from some of the things that we do online, it’s a fun comment to work with in that sense.”
He also added that the film shows the flip side of those actions and that, perhaps, that side of the coin may need to be further examined in real-life scenarios.
“It can be life shattering for some of these people,” Miller said. “People put videos online all the time and they end up getting horrible comments and they just can’t handle it. It could lead to suicide or something terrible. It is very real and I think we’re not understanding enough to that.”
The prank-turned-torture of Caan will put the spotlight onto Miller and his role of Ethan. Being able to work alongside a Hollywood legend was eye-opening for Miller.
To his credit, Caan has an Oscar Nomination as well as four Gold Globe nomination. Miller said that he was impressed to see the energy shown from the 77-year-old –whose career started in 1961, before Miller’s parents were born.
“He just got the same energy that he’s always had. He’s that rude, prude, old-school Hollywood actor,” Miller said. “There was a couple times I thought that, it could lead to maybe James Caan maybe taking me into a body bag. I think if you don’t have that, you haven’t had an experience with James Caan.
“Being able to be the one torturing him, sounds pretty awesome in my book. He was actually a really great guy, really great to us and very funny.”
There was also an already comfortable relationship with his cohort in crime, Gilchrist.
The two played subjects in the 2015 acclaimed independent film, The Stanford Prison Experiment.
“Getting to work with Kier Gilchrist, one of my best friends, is always a delight,” Miller said. “We worked together now in two films and being able to get closer with him in this dynamic. It was really fun. There was no hierarchy on the set at all. Everybody was very collaborative, we were just there to make a cool movie. Just worked together as artists and it was a really fun.”
The Good Neighbor hits theatres on September 16. It has a runtime of 98 minutes.
Miller is currently shooting for the new season of The Walking Dead on AMC. He has three films in post-production, including The Scent of Rain & Lightning and BeforeI Fall.
