Interview with Miranda’s Victim Director Michelle Danner
Miranda’s Victim is a superbly rendered dramatic film about how the “Miranda Rights” came to become such an important part of the legal process. This new film stars Abigail Breslin and she is supported by some of the best talents working in movies today, including Luke Wilson, Emily VanCamp, Andy Garcia, Ryan Phillippe, Kyle MacLachlan and many more. FilmBook spoke to the film’s director, Michelle Danner about the drama which is from Vertical Entertainment. FilmBook: You assembled a fine cast of seasoned performers for this movie. Do you think Miranda’s Victim is a stronger film because it features such a distinguished cast?
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Michelle Danner: Well, it was an important story. So, the vision behind asking such an extraordinary cast to be part of it to tell the story, it was part of the vision of the movie. Donald Sutherland, Andy Garcia, Kyle…all of these actors have had important careers. So, I felt that it was fitting for them to tell this important story. FilmBook: How did you decide on Abigail Breslin for the central role in the movie? Michelle Danner: Well, I remember there were pivotal points on my desk where I was looking at all these other actresses. At first, my thinking was that I was going to cast a real 18-year old. Obviously, actors in the movies play 18 and they play 50. You know that’s the range actors play. (Laughs) But, at first, I was a little bit fixated on a real 18 year old. And, I realized that 18-year olds were afraid of the subject matter and then I heard a distinct voice. I thought to myself stop fucking around and just get a real actress to play this part. And that was literally the voice that I heard inside of me. And, so you know, I had all these young actresses and then I had Abigail. And, I was like you know what, I was so happy that I met with her. I sent her the script, she read it right away. We met the day after. It went that quickly. She looked like 16. And, oh this was great. She has a very young feel to her. And, so it worked out. She obviously came and gave a phenomenal performance. FilmBook: How did you research the details of the story behind Miranda’s Victim? Michelle Danner: Well, I did a lot of research. I read everything that I could find on the story itself. I was very fascinated about how this story came full circle in terms of justice. I really could not believe that karmic justice found him at the end of this. And, I thought that was fascinating. As a matter of fact, I had a little push back, you know, when I put together the first cut of the movie, and the second and the third cut. There was a little push back in terms of ending the movie when she comes out of the courthouse at the end and not talking about the fact that Ernesto Miranda got his finger chopped off. And, I was very, very strongly, you know, passionate about telling the full story because I couldn’t believe it that that happened. And, if there hadn’t been so much talk in the court transcripts that I had read about, you know, the finger versus the penis and all of that, you know, talk about karma The moment I read it, I went, “karma is a bitch.” There is karmic justice at the end of the day. And, so I really wanted to tell the story how it came full circle. And then, not only that about his finger, but the person that killed him got freed because of the Miranda Rights. But, you know, the movie never takes a stance. It’s letting the audience, you know, come to their own conclusions. But, that’s what happened, you know. He was read his Miranda Rights– the killer of Ernesto Miranda– and he, to this day, has not been found. FilmBook: Tell me about your background teaching acting and how it helped you work with such a great cast on the film. Michelle Danner: Well, I started as an actress. Well, I started first as the daughter of my dad. (Laughs) My dad was a prominent producer and a William Morris president in Paris. He opened the very first offices in Paris in 1960. As a matter of fact, ’63 or ’64. I was in Paris not too long ago and I stood exactly in the building where he had the first offices…So, you know, I was daddy’s girl. I’d come and stay under the desk. He would have all these iconic people come in and discuss their careers. So, my passion for writing, storytelling, acting…it all started, I think, there when I was four years old. Apparently, I would tap dance on a coffee table and do imitations of Hitchcock and sing like Judy Garland when I was four years old for the William Morris agents. And then, you know, I moved back to New York and studied with Stella, with Uta…I was passionate about directing, about acting, about writing, and then I moved to L.A. in 1990 which, now, is like 33 years ago and I started an acting school, an acting studio–Los Angeles Acting Conservatory, that’s one of the, you know, I am told, one of the top schools in L.A. We have a great group, a community of actors. I have a lot of teachers, and wonderful faculty. The whole mandate of the mission is to really pass it down, you know. Now, I am going to be teaching quite a lot in the next month. I teach a Master Class called the Golden Box which, when I studied with Stella and Uta and all those wonderful teachers, I always remembered thinking that I did not like dogma. I did not like when it was just one thing. I believe in embracing all the different philosophies. And, therefore, I created the Golden Box technique where every philosophy, wherever you come from, you learn all the skills that you put into that Golden Box that only you have the key. To that, you add what you learn on set and then you add the life lessons of life. They all go into that box, the tool box of acting. So, I’m very happy with our schools. We have wonderful, wonderful students, many of them have come on set and have either been cast or helped behind the scenes. Recently, I started another movie, believe it or not, called The Italians, a comedy that I just finished. I am in editing right now, and a lot of our students came and were part of it. I think it’s great for them to get that hands-on experience. FilmBook: So, that was the last thing I was going to ask you. Your next project is The Italians. That’s the project you’re working on right now? Michelle Danner: Yes, but the next project is a wonderful disaster space movie called Helios. Blue Horizon, the Jeff Bezos company is sponsoring it. And, there are a lot of sponsors. Hopefully we can go to NASA to shoot some of it. It’s a wonderful script. Very timely. About sun flares and very science fiction. So I am really really excited about it. You know, every movie that I shot has given me the stepping stone to the next movie. I had a movie called The Runner that did very well on the festival circuits. And, I was on some sort of list of female directors to watch. And from there, I was offered Miranda’s Victim and the producers that saw Miranda’s Victim offered me Helios. The Italians was something that I did because my mom was Italian, and she recently passed away and this movie was like a love letter to her. So, when you see the movie, you’ll want to go eat lots of Italian food and hug your family. It’s very funny and I was lucky enough to get an incredible cast for that one as well. Abigail Breslin is in it, her and I got along so well on Miranda’s Victim that we wanted to keep working together. Lainie Kazan is in it. She’s so wonderful. She wrote me the most beautiful card yesterday…Cary Reyes of “Entourage,” Olivia Luccardi, Sydney Black, David DeLuise..we have an incredible cast…Rob Estes…I’m really excited about that. I am in editing right now and as soon as I finish that, I’ll start prep for the next one. The writers’ strike is over and SAG will be over soon! Leave your thoughts on this interview with Michelle Danner for Miranda’s Victim below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons. Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Google News, Feedly, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Reddit, Telegram, Mastodon, Flipboard, and Threads.
