Martin Freeman has responded to the backlash his latest film, “Miller’s Girl,” received for its massive age gap between Freeman and co-star Jenna Ortega.
In the erotic thriller, which was released in theaters in January, an 18-year-old student (Ortega) develops an inappropriate relationship with her writing teacher (Freeman). The “Wednesday” star, who is 21, is 31 years younger than Freeman, who is 52.
“Miller’s Girl,” which is now on Netflix, received criticism prior to and after its release, with users on X, formerly Twitter, discussing Freeman and Ortega’s “disturbing” relationship in the movie.
In an interview with British outlet The Times published Saturday, Freeman said the movie isn’t intended to glorify age-gap romances and that it’s “grown-up and nuanced.”
“It’s not saying, ‘Isn’t this great?’” Freeman said of his and Ortega’s relationship in the film.
Calling backlash against “Miller’s Girl” a “shame,” Freeman went on to note how movies with controversial topics tend to garner criticism.
He brought up fellow actor Liam Neeson in Steven Spielberg’s Holocaust drama “Schindler’s List” as an example of how an actor can play a role without co-signing the film’s topic.
“Are we gonna have a go at Liam Neeson for being in a film about the Holocaust?” Freeman said.
Previously, the “Hobbit” actor admitted he found the storyline of “Miller’s Girl” to be “very uncomfortable” when he read director Jade Bartlett’s script for the first time.
“When I read the script, I was like, ‘Okay, that’s a gutsy script,’ because it’s very uncomfortable and there are things in it which are not cut and dry, and not black and white,” he told Collider in August last year.
In February, Kristina Arjona, the intimacy coordinator for “Miller’s Girl,” told the Daily Mail that Ortega was “comfortable” on set despite the age difference with Freeman.
“There was many, many people throughout this [filming] process, engaging with [Ortega] to make sure that it was consistent with what she was comfortable with, and she was very determined and very sure of what she wanted to do,” Arjona said.
“Part of my job too is supporting her decisions,” she continued. “I adapt to whatever is the comfort level of my actors, especially on a production like this where there is a large age gap between the actors.”
Ortega has not publicly addressed the backlash around “Miller’s Girl.”
(this story has not been edited by TSA Mag staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
