Exclusive Interview: McKaley Miller Talks Butter, the Film’s Timely Message, and More

McKaley Miller is an exciting young talent who has captivated audiences with the gripping stories she’s brought to life on the stage and screen. Past credits include The Gates, Hart of Dixie, Scream Queens, Unfollowed, and Ma. This March, she stars in the must-see film Butter.

A lonely obese boy everyone calls “Butter” is about to make history. He is going to eat himself to death—live on the internet—and everyone is invited to watch. When he first makes the announcement online to his classmates, Butter expects pity, insults, and possibly sheer indifference. What he gets are morbid cheerleaders rallying around his deadly plan. Yet as their dark encouragement grows, it begins to feel a lot like popularity. And that feels good. But what happens when Butter reaches his suicide deadline? Can he live with the fallout if he doesn’t go through with his plans?

Pop Culturalist had the pleasure of speaking with McKaley about her multifaceted career, Butter, and more.

PC: How did you discover your passion for the arts and storytelling?
McKaley: It was a traditional story. When I was younger, I always put on plays and made my family watch. Coincidentally, there was a girl in my elementary school whose dad was a director.

He was directing a Lifetime movie that was shooting in Dallas, where I’m from. She asked me if I wanted to come be a background extra. I remember stepping onto that set and watching everything happen. I told my mom, “I’m supposed to do this.” I would go up to my mom and be like, “Why is she saying it like that? She should say it like this.” My mom was like, “You’re going to get kicked out. Stop and be quiet. Go walk in the back like you’re supposed to.” [laughs]

From then on, I absolutely harassed her to try to help me find acting classes or any way that I could perform. I danced for thirteen years of my life and thought that was going to be my path. This came out of left field. I truly developed such a love for it. Things took off super quickly.

PC: What would you say is the biggest lesson you learned from dance that you’ve been able to apply to your acting career?
McKaley: I like that question. I think it’s being able to let go. That’s the thing about dance. When you’re on stage, you have three minutes of a song. You have to leave it all there. You have to give it all you have and then you get to walk away from it.

Bringing that into the audition room has been really helpful in my career. It’s that mentality that you have a few minutes to show what you can do. Leave it all on the floor. Don’t have any regrets. Do the best that you can in those three minutes. I do actually think dancing for that long has prepared me for the hard auditioning process.

PC: You’ve had a lot of success already in your young career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out to you?
McKaley: There are quite a few that stand out to me. I would say the first thing that popped into my head when you asked that was a movie I did called The Iceman. I was sixteen years old, and it was with Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder, and Chris Evans. I was already on Hart of Dixie at this point, but this was sort of the first time I was working with such a heavily star-studded cast outside of Hart of Dixie, which had become my family at that point. I remember the first time I ever met Winona Ryder, whom I was obsessed with. Edward Scissorhands has been my favorite movie forever.

I walked into the hair and makeup trailer (the film was set in the ’70s). I walked in there to do a test. She looked right at me and she goes, “Are you McKaley? You’re playing my daughter?” I go, “Yeah.” She goes, “You’re beautiful. I’m honored.”

My mom was there. She goes, “You just froze.” I was a deer in headlights. I was like, “No, I’m honored.” I stumbled through it. I was like, “Thank you. I love you.” That was day one. We had a whole month of getting to know each other. That set was so special. The wardrobe and music brought me to the ’70s. I’ve never done a period piece outside of that. That project holds a special place in my heart.

PC: In addition to the work that you’ve done on screen, you’ve also written and produced a short. How has the experience behind the camera made you a stronger actress and vice versa? Could we potentially see you do more behind the scenes?
McKaley: Writing is something that I picked up very recently because I’m getting into this weird age. It’s sort of like, “Can you play high school? Can you play mid-twenties?” It’s this weird bubble that I’m in right now.

I started writing as something to do for fun. I didn’t think I was any good at it until I started sending my scripts to friends I had in the industry. I was like, “Hey, I’m a new writer. Could you read this and give me notes?” The fact that they all came back and said, “McKaley, this is really good. We get asked all the time to read friends of friends’ scripts. It’s always like, ‘Oof.’ Here’s where you can start.”

The fact that I started getting feedback like, “You’re good at this.” It gave me the confidence that I needed to start writing more. I was like, “You know what? I can pursue this.” I do have a knack for it. There are a couple of things right now that I’ve finished that are circulating around. Writing has definitely become a second passion in my life. I definitely do think that you’ll be able to see more of that in the coming years.

PC: Tell us about Butter, your character, and what drew you to this project.
McKaley: When you first read the script, you wouldn’t assume that it’s as dark as it actually is with a name like Butter. But what you don’t realize until you start watching it is that the main character’s name is Butter because when he was growing up he was bullied by these kids. That was the nickname that he developed because he’s overweight.

The story goes that this kid, who’s the outcast and the loser and who doesn’t really fit in, is so sick of living this life that he devises a plan to eat himself to death and live stream it on New Year’s Eve. Because he puts that out there, he becomes internet famous. Once you become internet famous, all of a sudden you become popular in high school.

He developed this newfound popularity and gains these new friends. He gets everything that he’s ever wanted, but he comes to the realization that, “I’m only getting the things that I wanted because I’m telling these people that I’m going to kill myself and they think that’s cool.”

It’s a dark story, but it really deals with mental health and suicide prevention. It does it in a way that’s family-friendly. The subject matter is dark, but the movie doesn’t present it in such a dark way where you’re going to sit there and be depressed for an hour and a half.

My character is Anna. She’s one of the popular kids. She’s basically getting catfished by Butter online. They develop this friendship when he becomes popular and part of her group. They develop a real friendship. Meanwhile, she thinks she has this super amazing, gorgeous boyfriend that she’s met online and hasn’t met in person before. There’s this whole storyline about being yourself and how catfishing is bad. She’s interesting. She’s a really fun character to play. She’s the only one out of the group that actually deeply cares about Butter and making sure he’s okay.

PC: What was that collaboration like working with Alex [Kersting]?
McKaley: It was really interesting. I actually got involved in this project before the audition process. I was reached out to by the casting director. She was like, “Can you come in? We are trying to do a screen test for this boy that we found in Nevada. We need an actress to come read with him that can bring out the energy that we’re looking for in his test. Do you have a free day? Could you help?” I was like, “Of course.”

I went. In the first meeting with Alex, we were together for 45 minutes. I was there as an aide to help him and be a reader. But after being there for an hour, I was like, “Wait a minute. I want that role. Would you consider me? Could I actually audition for Anna?” Because I had developed such a cool friendship with Alex and I loved Paul A. Kaufman (the director) and his vision that he had and the directions he was giving, I was like, “This is interesting. This is something I would love to be a part of.”

Two months later, I get a call: “Are you sure? Do you want to audition for this?” I was like, “Yes, I do.” It started super early on. Developing that friendship with Alex started way before pre-production. We knew each other then. It was fun to help him on set. This is his first big role. He’s such a natural. He’s so talented. It was awesome to be a part of his first big thing and have that close collaboration with him to help him get what he needed in each scene because he gets pretty dark at times. It was nice to be involved in that process.

PC: Throughout your career, you’ve done a fantastic job playing these diverse and multilayered characters. What is your process like when you’re deciding what projects you want to go after?
McKaley: It’s anything that I feel will challenge me. That’s the main thing that I love about this profession. I get to be different people and find ways that different human beings tick and what makes them react in certain ways. I love doing that with each character that I get to play.

My favorite days are when I have six auditions in a day because I love being like, “I’m going to be this person and then I’m going to be this person.” That’s the most exciting part for me. I really like to challenge my own emotional state with how many different people I can try to be in a day. I find it really exciting to get characters that aren’t like me. I have to find a bit of myself in them so that I can really dive into that. I have a process of putting a little ounce of myself in everything I do while really trying to dive into how other people’s brains work.

PC: That’s a great answer. Butter has made its way around the festival circuit. It’s been incredibly well received. What do you think is resonating most with audiences? What do you hope they take away after they see it?
McKaley: I think what is resonating with audiences is that everyone has been in a situation like this. Everyone has been in a situation where they’ve been bullied or felt their lowest and wanted to run away from the world.

There are not a lot of movies that are made like this. It’s super important that the topic of mental health is brought up because it’s important for everyone to know that they are not alone. Butter is dealing with things in a more extreme way: where his only option, he thinks, is to end it all. But everyone else going through high school and life is also experiencing the same anxieties and frustrations. “I wish I could be like this. I wish I could be more like this person.” I want people to take away from this movie that you are not alone. It’s an important message. It’s nice to see that you aren’t the only one struggling with things that are going on in your life.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
McKaley: The show that I’m obsessed with right now is Yellowjackets on Showtime. I’m massively obsessed with that show. I just binged it. Succession is another one that I just finished.

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
McKaley: The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I’ve seen that movie 30 times and I cry every time.

PC: Favorite book?
McKaley: The first one that popped into my head is the one that I’m trying to develop right now. I’m afraid to say it. The Hunger Games books are classics. Harry Potter as well.

PC: Favorite play or musical?
McKaley: The Book of Mormon. I’m absolutely obsessed. I recently watched The Play That Goes Wrong on Broadway. It’s so good. I thoroughly enjoyed that.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
McKaley: I listen to a lot of Beach Boys and the Beatles.

PC: Dream role?
McKaley: I have so many dream roles that I’d love to play. If I could go back in time and play anything, it would be Molly Ringwald’s character in The Breakfast Club. She’s so iconic. That’s a role that I would love to go back and redo. Then I’m obsessed with Girl, Interrupted. I would die to go back and redo Angelina Jolie’s role. It’s so gritty, dark, and edgy.

To keep up with McKaley, follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Watch Butter wherever you stream movies.

Photo Credit: Tina Turnbow