Patrick Wilson in “Millers In Marriage.”
Republic Pictures/ParamountIn a business where no film is a sure thing, acclaimed actor Patrick Wilson takes comfort in knowing that there are certain directors whom he’s worked with previously who have cracked the code and make saying yes to their latest project easily.
That was the case, Wilson said, in his latest film Millers in Marriage, a compelling romantic drama written and directed by Edward Burns. The filmmaker, of course, burst onto the Hollywood scene with his indie sensation The Brothers McMullen in 1995, and Wilson first collaborated with him on the 2007 romantic comedy-drama Purple Violets.
“He’s the kind of guy—and I always hope that people have this kind of person in their life—who, even if you haven’t talked for 15 years, get a text from out of the blue that says, ‘How are you doing? Are you free in two months?’ [and you just go and work with him]
,” Wilson told me in a Zoom conversation on Wednesday. “It’s about that easy with Eddie. He’s super skilled and proficient at shooting movies like this that really aren’t done a lot.”
Patrick Wilson, Edward Burns, Gretchen Mol, ROAR Forward Founder Michael Clinton, Julianna … [+]
Sean WalshThe type of movies Wilson is referring to are character-based, which Burns explored not only with The Brothers McMullen but its hit follow-up She’s the One. Burns also proved early in his career that he had an incredible handle on telling stories through character ensembles like 2001’s Sidewalks of New York, where the lives of the people he was examining all intertwine.
Burns is exploring that dynamic once again in Millers in Marriage, which opens in select theaters on Friday and simultaneously debuts on digital video on demand.
In the film, Wilson is among the ensemble cast of characters, which includes three sets of middle-aged couples at a crossroads in their lives and marriages. Whether the couples simply seek to find meaning in their marital lives or in once case, a divorce, grapple with personal successes or failures or flirt with thoughts of infidelity, the bottom line is perfectly clear to every single one of them: Marriage is hard.
In Millers in Marriage, Wilson stars as Scott, a music manager struggling in a fragile marriage to Eve (Gretchen Mol), a former singer who bears the brunt of his mean streak as an alcoholic in denial.
The film also stars Burns and Minnie Driver as Andy and Renee, whose dating life is made complicated by Andy’s ex-wife, Tina (Morena Baccarin); while flirtations by Dennis (Brian d’Arcy James) tempts Maggie (Julianna Margulies) in her strained marriage to Nick (Campbell Scott).
Benjamin Bratt also stars as a music critic who crosses paths with Eve decades after they first met, forcing her to do some soul-searching amid her difficult marriage to Scott.
On Thursday night, Wilson and his fellow Millers in Marriage collaborators reunited at a private screening of the film in New York City hosted by ROAR Forward, an organization that helps people over 50 years old make the most out of the second halves of their lives.
Patrick Wilson Wanted To Play A Part In ‘Millers In Marriage’ Different From His Previous Work
Patrick Wilson said Edward Burns asked him which role he wanted to play in Millers in Marriage, and the role of Scott most intrigued The Conjuring and Insidious franchise star because it brought him down an avenue he hadn’t explored before as an actor.
“I’ve played a lot of good guys, bad guys, and all sorts of different types of people,” Wilson said. “[I wanted to do a take on playing] an alcoholic and the role he plays in a movie [that’s not solely] about it. He’s just one character in a snapshot of his life [and] how he’s dealing with himself and his own demons. I thought it was a good exercise for me to do something that I hadn’t done . I wanted to swing a big stick.”
Millers in Marriage comes at a unique time in Wilson’s career, because his work on the film came after he made his directorial debut in the 2023 horror-thriller Insidious: The Red Door. The experience, Wilson noted, no doubt changed his perspective on filmmaking after sitting on the other side of the camera.
“Every director, every DP [director of photography] has their own vision of how they want to shoot a film and it’s not so easy to go do it and edit it,” Wilson said. “There is sort of an understanding of storytelling [that you learn about] once you’re inside it. Once you’ve done it, you’re able to [understand it on] another level.”
Insidious: The Red Door marked the last film in the five-chapter Insidious franchise, which began in 2010. In September, Wilson will wrap up another horror film franchise with The Conjuring: Last Rites, which will be the fourth and final Conjuring film he and Vera Farmiga have starred in together since the original Conjuring film in 2013.
Millers in Marriage debuts in select theaters and digital video on Friday.
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