Exclusive: Madalen Mills On The Tiger Rising & Working With Queen Latifah
Currently on demand and hitting digital February 8, 2022 is The Tiger Rising, written and directed by Ray Giarratana and starring an ensemble with Christian Convery (“Sweet Tooth”), Madalen Mills (“Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Story”), Tony Award nominee Sam Trammell (“True Blood”), Katherine McPhee (“Smash”), Golden Globe nominee Dennis Quaid (“Far From Heaven”) and Academy Award nominee Queen Latifah (“Hairspray”), who is an executive producer on the film.
Queen Latifah and Dennis Quaid star in this beloved tale based on the New York Times best-selling book by Kate DiCamillo. When 12-year-old Rob Horton (Christian Convery) discovers a caged tiger in the woods near his home, his imagination runs wild and life begins to change in the most unexpected ways. With the help of a wise and mysterious maid, Willie May (Queen Latifah) and the stubborn new girl in school (Madalen Mills), he navigates through childhood memories, heartache, and wondrous adventures in this heartwarming adaptation.
For Mills, this is her second feature film following her breakout performance in Netflix’s “Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey” opposite Forest Whitaker and Anika Noni Rose. Coming up next is James Ponsoldt’s “Summering,” which recently had its premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.
How did this movie come about? Did they reached out to you or did you audition for it?
Madalen Mills: I actually auditioned for it when I was filming Jingle Jangle. I was still in London when I auditioned for it, and had a director session, got the part and here we are.
How would you best describe your character and how do you relate to her?
Madalen Mills: She’s very sassy and has a lot of attitudes, but she's definitely a bit of a bully. The way she acts out her anger, frustration, definitely stems from the pain and hurt and loss that she has in her past and is going through now. It's definitely one of the heavier messages in the movie, learning how to deal with your emotions. This definitely gives you an idea of what not to do, as far as her treating others. The only thing I can really think of, as far as similarities go with me and her is, I thought we have pretty big personalities. We're both loud that way, definitely in two different ways, but that's definitely something we have in common.
What’s your experience with animals? Was it you with the tiger or CGI?
Madalen Mills: Oh, it was definitely CGI. I didn't work with the tiger at all, during the actual filming process; but I love animals and I love cats. I have three of them and really love being a cat mom. So yeah, it was a great, but I love to look at Tigers, but from afar.
How was working with Christian Convery?
Madalen Mills: Christian is the same age and it was, like, automatic. We have a lot of things in common in and outside of the set. We played on my Nintendo Switch. We did this indoor interactivity place where we did rock climbing and jumped on a trampoline. There's so much to connect on just from our age and interest alone. So it was really fun working with him and getting to know him throughout the entire thing.
And then there's Queen Latifah, who’s been around a long time and is also a producer in this world. What was that experience like working with her?
Madalen Mills: A Dream. I really looked up to her so much. She really paved the way for me to be able to have the opportunities that I have this industry, and meeting her and getting to work with her and learn from her. She’s nice and down to earth, which is great for a celebrity of her caliber. She's just a regular person, and she has this swagger and competence about her. It was really great. Being in her presence, it was a dream.
As far as directors, what did you pick up from Jingle Jangle that you took over to this movie? What you did get from this movie, that hopefully you'll apply to your next project?
Madalen Mills: The biggest thing for me that I learned during Jingle Jangle is just coming from the world of theater everything's big and dramatic and it's just a different style of acting and different acting choices that you make in theater versus on the screen. I learned a lot from Mr. Talbert and also watching Mr. Whitaker, Miss Anika Noni Rose, Ms. Rashad and all these incredible professional actors and actresses and performers and just watching them and seeing how they go about their craft and acting, I really carry that part of it over to all of my projects really including Tiger Rising. That experience really helped me with this role. It was really great. I learned a lot from this film. And as I continue to do more projects and get more experience, I feel like I've learned different things from each one that helped me become a better person and a better actress overall.