Ryan Phillippe understands the “challenge” of raising teenagers — which is exactly why he connected so deeply to the role of an estranged father desperate for reconnection in his new two-part action thriller, One Mile.
“One of the things that drew me to this film was the nature of that father-daughter relationship,” Phillippe, 51, exclusively told Us Weekly while discussing both films. “It was pitched to me by [executive producer] Aaron Kaplan a few years ago, and we decided to develop it.”
One Mile: Chapter One and One Mile: Chapter Two, which was released on Friday, February 20, follows newly retired army veteran Danny (Phillippe) as he takes his estranged daughter, Alex (Amélie Hoeferle), on a trip around the country to look at potential colleges. When Alex suggests they steer off the planned path to check out an art school she’s interested in, Danny — desperate to reconnect with her — agrees. But a lack of hotels leads to them camping alone in the forest, and things quickly take a turn as the pair end up getting attacked by a group of mysterious men.
According to Phillippe, Kaplan was touring colleges with his daughter, who also serves as a producer on the project, when she came up with the idea for the films while the pair were traveling down some rural New Hampshire roads.
“This story was her idea,” Phillippe explained to Us. “[She] said to her dad, ‘What if our car broke down right now and we’re in the middle of nowhere? And then what if some kind of nefarious someone took me or abducted me?’ And that’s what this was born out of.”
While both movies are action-packed from start to finish, it’s Danny’s undying love for his daughter — even when they’re at odds — that serves as the emotional heart of the films. (Phillippe is dad to daughter Ava, 26, and son Deacon, 22, whom he shares with ex-wife Reese Witherspoon. He also shares daughter Kai, 14, with ex Alexis Knapp.)
“Danny feels some guilt for having been away, and maybe he stayed in the military a bit too long and doesn’t have the relationship with his daughter that he’d like to,” Phillippe explained. “So this trip with her is an opportunity to maybe connect, reconnect, and foster a more significant relationship with her. And being a dad to two girls, I think that was a really beautiful and compelling reason for me to do this movie.”
Before Chapter One takes a much darker turn, much of its first act highlights Danny’s desperate attempts to find common ground with his teenage daughter, who continuously thwarts his advances to connect. She insists on calling him Daniel, refuses to open up about her life and is vocal about resenting him and his absence as a father. The constant push and pull between the two characters makes for some deeply uncomfortable — but occasionally hilarious — moments.
“There is that awkwardness, and it’s very clear that Danny doesn’t know how to interact with a teenage girl,” Phillippe said with a laugh. “He’s a guy who’s been in the military and dealing with those folks and that mindset. So it’s sort of difficult, it’s a challenge for him, to, like, not be overbearing or not to pry, but wanting to know as much about [her] as he possibly can.”
Ryan Phillippe, Amélie Hoeferle Republic Pictures
The twosome ultimately find common ground when Alex opens up about her love of art, and Danny fully supports her ditching her plan to play college soccer in lieu of pursuing other passions — a mirror of how Phillippe has supported his own children stepping into the spotlight over the years. But just as Alex starts to let Danny in, a brutal attack leads to the pair fighting for their lives.
“It becomes a survival story for the two of them, which [Alex is] a very active participant in,” Phillippe explained. “He has to save and protect the person he loves most in the world, and that’s his little girl, and I think over that course of that time, she starts to see that he is trying, and that he would do anything for her, and that’s where we kind of end up on this journey.”
Danny and Alex are ultimately separated before Alex is kidnapped and taken to a nearby village. Fearing for the safety of his daughter, Danny relies on his 30 years of tactical prowess, something that required a high level of training from Phillippe.
Luckily, the actor has an extensive history with the military, both on and off screen.
“I have done a lot of tactical training throughout my career. I’ve been in quite a few military movies and TV shows, like Shooter and I Know What You Did Last Summer and Stop-Loss,” he told Us. “I also come from a very military family, so I think a little bit of it is in my blood. We [also] had a great tech advisor on set who was there to make sure that I was moving properly and militarily and doing the right calculations.”
Despite being in shape both physically and mentally, Phillippe admitted the level of hand-to-hand combat and stunt work he needed for the role wasn’t exactly easy.
Ryan Phillippe, Amélie Hoeferle Republic Pictures
“There are these different components. You’ve got the physical aspect, you’ve got the acting and dialogue aspect, you’ve got the tactical component that needs to be factored in. So it really does become quite challenging,” he said, before adding that he was up for the challenge. “That’s the kind of stuff that I get really into. Also, whenever I’m doing a film where I’m playing a character who has a military background, it’s important to me to do that to the best of my ability, and to honor those who serve and also [pay] tribute to my family members who serve and have served.”
Phillippe noted that while the films had an “incredible” stunt team, he did try and complete as many of the stunts himself that he “possibly” could — and as much as he was legally allowed.
“I approach pieces like this the way an athlete would. You know you’re going to get bumps and bruises and you’re going to be sore, but you kind of prepare yourself physically and mentally for that, and you’re absolutely right,” he said. “There are some things that I want to do that I’m told I’m not allowed to do, because the danger is you get injured, the whole production comes to a halt. I try to do as much as I can.”
Much of what was asked of Phillippe involved physical combat — with some sequences requiring a memorization of “40 plus moves” while delivering dialogue. If that wasn’t hard enough, the weather conditions in Vancouver, Canada, where both films were shot, made things even more chaotic.
“This movie offered a particular challenge in its ambitiousness, because we were shooting a movie and its sequel concurrently, at the same time, under relatively difficult conditions,” he shared. “I think it rained every single day. Our base camp was in mud and underwater. The majority of the time, we have wood planks that we had to walk on to get to and from our trailers. So it was a challenge for both cast and crew.”
Phillippe, of course, wasn’t the only one who was required to deliver when it came to physical action sequences. As determined as Danny is to reach his daughter, Alex leads her own rescue, something that Phillippe said only works thanks to Hoeferle’s incredible casting.
“We did an exhaustive search for the Alex role,” Phillippe revealed. “And as soon as I saw Amelie’s audition video, I knew she was the one. “She was meant to be an angsty, artistic teenager, and that just jumped off the screen the moment that I saw her.”
Phillippe, who i also serves as a producer on the films, added that it was “very important” Alex not be a “damsel in distress,” but a hero in her own right.
“She has some of her father’s toughness, and there’s a hereditary aspect to that,” he told Us. “And I think you kind of see that she’s got a little bit of fire and she fights back. I think that’s cool for young women to see as well.”
One Mile: Chapter One and One Mile: Chapter Two are streaming on demand now.
