He also works extensively with Wahlberg, as the two actors find a loving if tense dynamic.
Seeking distribution,Good Joe Bellpremieres at this year’s TIFF on Monday, Sept. 14.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How familiar were you with Jadin’s story before you signed on?
TIFF
And what was your reaction when the part came your way?
REID MILLER:Honestly, I hadn’t heard of this story.
It happened in 2013.
That’s when Jadin took his own life.
And I was 13 at the time.
I was like,Okay, I’m meant to do this.
For myself, I had grown up dealing with bullies because I was different.
I grew up in a town that was very sports-oriented.
Definitely not to the same degree as he did; he was tortured on a daily basis.
But I related to him in that way of being misunderstood by some of the people around me.
Of course, it wasn’t in my control.
With casting, all I can do is my best and hope for the best.
But luckily, they saw how passionate I was about the story.
How did the character come to you, in terms of how to play him?
He was not ashamed of who he was at all.
And I think that’s beautiful.
He’s not pathologized.
Can you talk about approaching him in that way, finding that fight in him?
He was a very strong person.
When I stepped onto set, I wore the clothes that he wore.
I also had his iPod that he listened to.
So I was able to listen to his music.
Because I don’t believe he took his own life because he was ashamed of who he was.
He took his own life because he felt everyone else was ashamed of who he was.
For me, playing the character was actually very easy to show that strength.
There’s always that hope.
And again, having spoken to his mom, she said that herself.
He was just in a very unfortunate situation.
I remember the day they came to set.
It was a very, very powerful moment.
I stepped out of my trailer to go talk to [Jadin’s mother] Lola.
And it was a very overwhelming moment because when she saw me, she saw Jadin.
Because I don’t ever want to assume things.
I wanted to know what he waslike.
Was he a very calm person?
Was he very well-spoken?
Also, more importantly, it was really interesting to talk about Joe.
It, unfortunately, was a situation where he didn’t understand it.
What was it like playing off of him?
Mark is so funny, and so relaxed, and so welcoming.
Playing off of him was really quite easy because he made it easy.
We were really able to connect on a deeper level than the material.
The first time I met him during the audition process, I went to his house.
I really felt like I was talking to my son."
And in a way, I kind of felt like I was talking to my dad.
And I knew that this was meant to be.
But it was there from the very beginning, there was a very father-son friendship.
And it’s funny because I was so nervous.
I grew up watching Mark Wahlberg!
I remember I sawTransformerswith my dad, the one that Mark Wahlberg was in.
To watch him up on the big screen and then be in his house talking to him and acting….
It was such a crazy moment of like,Oh my God, here I am.
I’m here with Mark Wahlberg.
How did you approach that?
We had to keep in mind that he is aware that he’s a ghost.
It’s almost up for interpretation.
Some people are going to think he’s a ghost.
Some people are going to think he is in Mark’s head and he’s just talking to himself.
A lot of people are going to take it different ways.
Like: This is Jadin.
And who I’m playing and how I’m playing him is who Jadin really was.
And it’s so wrenching, too.
Was it tough to figure out?
That scene was probably the most difficult scene to shoot in the movie.
It had to be authentic.
It had to be real.
And we couldn’t do that.
I didn’t want to do that.
This is the most pivotal scene of the film.
And, even then, I could never imagine just how much pain he was in.
But I understand my own pain.
In that moment, I realized just how much alike Jadin and I are.
From then on out, how I approached playing Jadin, in general, was flipped on its head.
At that point, I really felt like I became him for a moment and I really understood.
I felt like he was there with me and he was guiding my performance.
And I would like to think that he was.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
