“You Can’t Always Be With Them”

There are few things more primal than a parent fighting to protect their child. And seeing it onscreen taps into a universal wellspring of emotion: anxiety, fear, and panic, of course, but also love. What wouldn’t we do to keep our kids safe? That’s the question Ryan Phillippe faces in Republic Pictures’ new double-feature, One Mile: Chapter One and Chapter Two. He stars as a former special forces operative struggling to reconnect with his teenage daughter on a college-visit road trip… only to have the trip spiral into a relentless fight for survival.

For many of us, Phillippe will always be the brooding heartthrob of the late ‘90s. But in this two-part action thriller, he steps into a different kind of role: a father reckoning with guilt and the tightrope act of trusting the world with your kid while trying to shield them from the worst of it. And as a dad of three himself, Phillippe brings real-life perspective to the emotional core of the movies.

We caught up with him to talk about filming such an intense project, raising kids who are now stepping into the spotlight themselves, and how becoming a dad in his 20s reframed everything.

Scary Mommy: These films are action-packed, but at the core, they’re about a dad trying to reconnect with his daughter. What was it like to tap into that dynamic, specifically opposite Amélie Hoeferle?

Ryan Phillippe: We did an exhaustive search for that role, and as soon as I saw Amélie, being one of the producers on the film, I said to the other producers, ‘She’s the one.’ It’s meant to be this angsty, artistic young lady trying to figure out where she fits in, and I thought she nailed that perfectly.

And being a father to two daughters, that being the central heart of what drives the movies was really important to me because it’s a guy who feels like he hasn’t been there for her in the way that he should. He may have stayed in the military a bit too long, and there’s some guilt associated with that. And the impetus behind wanting to be a part of this college search with her is to attempt to connect or reconnect or become a bigger part of her life, and maybe make up for some lost time.

SM: In Chapter Two, your character is no longer just reacting — he’s now being effectively hunted by someone who has a better idea of how he thinks. Did that inform how you approached Danny emotionally going into this second half?

RP: Absolutely, because in the second film, I’m in pursuit. It’s a rescue mission at that point, and I’m up against incredible odds. It’s one man versus 100, which is a very challenging situation for any character in an action piece. Yeah, this was an ambitious endeavor on all of our parts to shoot a film and a sequel concurrently under really difficult conditions.

We were on Vancouver Island, which is beautiful, but I think it rained every single day. We had really challenging terrain that we were dealing with. A lot of physicality … so many action scenes and fight scenes and all the choreography that goes along with that. And I’m not a young man anymore, so when you do stunts — and I tend to try to do as much of it as I possibly can — you get some minor injuries. Those minor injuries in my 20s, 30s, even 40s were easier to overcome and bounce back from than they are now. So I was sore a lot of the time in shooting both films.

SM: Your character is literally willing to burn everything down to protect his daughter, and I feel like, as parents, that’s a very relatable feeling. How do we toe that line between protection and letting go, between burning it all down and trying to help our kids just enjoy life?

RP: Well, you hope that while they’re young and they are in the same house as you, that you instill enough of the values and the sensibilities that they’ll need when they go out into the world. Because at a certain point, you can’t stop life. They’re going to go through their developments, they’re going to go through their heartaches and their trials and tribulations. And as a parent, you’re always there for them and trying to guide and give them advice, but there has to be an element of release once they get over a certain age.

When my oldest two left for college, it was tough. You’re used to them being the center of your life and taking care of them. And that’s so much a part of what we do energetically as parents while we’re raising them, and then to release is incredibly difficult. But I feel good and proud of who they are and how myself and my ex-wife have prepared them. And so you have to always be there for them, but you can’t always be with them.

SM: You mentioned Reese [Witherspoon], and there’s this funny cultural thing where people joke about how strong y’all’s genes are — like you went “copy + paste” with Ava and Deacon because they look so much like you two did in the ‘90s. As you’re getting older and they’re adults now, what is it like to literally see these younger versions of yourself walking around?

RP: It’s interesting now that Ava and Deacon are both getting into the industry in some capacities. It’s what they’ve grown up around. They’ve been on sets their entire lives, and they’ve seen us preparing for roles, and they’ve seen what happens when a film is released; they’ve got wherewithal that maybe the average kid wouldn’t have as they’re getting into this industry. But I see them as their own. They’re unique and special in their own ways. So there’s not a whole lot of comparison from my end. I think the public does that kind of stuff.

SM: Since we’re on the subject of nostalgia — everyone’s still obsessed with Cruel Intentions, all these years later. If you could send a message to your Cruel Intentions-era self about what life looks like at this stage, what would you say?

RP: Oh my goodness. That’s a difficult one. I mean, I love that that movie still holds up, and it seems to find new audiences continually, which is shocking to me. But shortly after that film, not too long after its release, we were preparing for the birth of our first child. So that forces you to grow up quite quickly. I was 24 years old when Ava was born, which, these days, is very young.

Then life took on a completely different and more important nature in some ways because it’s not just about you or your career. So very quickly, you compartmentalize. You put everything you can into your work, but being a parent becomes the most important thing.

One Mile: Chapter One and Chapter Two are now available to rent or buy on digital.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.