Logan Miller has gone from a role in a hit movie to a television show of his own in a matter of only months.
Logan, 17, is the son of former Emporian Bryan Miller and his wife, Stevie, of Flower Mound, Texas, and the grandson of Sharon and Marshall Miller of Emporia.
In April, the teen was the subject of a feature article in The Gazette about his role in “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.” He played actor Matthew McConaughey’s character, Connor Mead, as a teenager in the movie, which also starred Jennifer Garner and Michael Douglas.
On Friday, viewers will be able to see him in a sneak preview of his own series, “I’m in the Band,” which is scheduled to debut on the Disney XD Channel in January.
Logan portrays Tripp Campbell, a 15-year-old teenager who dreams of showing off his guitar skills by becoming part of a rock band. He gets that opportunity when he wins a radio contest to have dinner with his favorite band, Iron Weasel, according to information from the Disney Channel’s media relations division.
“He manages to impress them with his musical skills and miraculously lands the lead guitar role,” promotional material from Disney stated. “Iron Weasel is made up of three middle-aged stooges ... who initially scoff at the idea of having a kid in the band.”
When Tripp offers them the guest room at his mother’s house, the musicians see the advantage of having the youngster in the band — and moving from the cramped van where they were living.
The teen convinces his mother Beth, a divorcee, that the band members will be great role models for him. In their own unorthodox ways, they do try to mentor Tripp through his high school years “with the goal of turning him into a bona fide rock star in the process,” the press information said.
Tripp brings his best friend, Izzy Fuentes, played by Caitlin Taylor Love, along for the adventure. She is an aspiring singer who will try to keep him grounded and out of trouble as he works to jump-start the popularity of Iron Weasel.
Other main characters are Steve Valentine as Derek Jupiter, Greg Baker as Burger Pitt, and Stephen Full as Ash.
“I’m in the Band” is produced by It’s A Laugh Productions and carries a TV-Y7 parental guideline.
Hard work
Logan’s success has come quickly, but not without a lot of work and auditioning.
Logan began acting in local school and church theater productions, and soon began acting classes in the Dallas area.
He has done voiceover work for the American Heart Association, Super Soakers and Richards Group and starred in a Disney pilot, “Life Bites.”
“It’s so much fun,” Logan said this month in a telephone interview. “There’s a lot of, like, rock ’n’ roll in it, there’s a lot of music. There’s a lot a lot of great comedy. The writing is really great.”
The show was created by Michael Kaplan and Ron Rappaport. Kaplan is best-known for his previous shows, “Frasier” and “Girlfriends,” and Rappaport has been involved in “Date My Mom.”
Executive producers are Kaplan and Richard Gurman, well known for “Married ... With Children” and “Still Standing.”
Logan said that the show’s writers bring their own styles to the scripts.
“There’s so many things that each writer adds to it,” he said. “... It’s so great to actually work on a script and when I’m reading it, I’m actually laughing at it. Then you know the writing’s really good.”
At the time of the interview, 13 episodes had been shot and seven remained to be finished.
“We shoot every three weeks,” he said. “We do three episodes in three weeks, then we do a hiatus period.”
That week off isn’t a welcome respite for the teen, who described himself as a workaholic when the job was something he liked to do.
“I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m bored. I want to go to work,’” he said. “I don’t think that I’m working too hard. It’s a hard business and you have to work hard at what you do. It is long hours, and that’s just how it works.”
Memorizing lines is the easiest part of the job, he said, despite the heavy load of lines required from the lead character.
“It’s all about fighting with jokes, making the scene fun and keeping energy up and everything,” Logan said. “There’s so much more to it than just memorizing the lines.”
The actors rehearse Wednesdays through Fridays, then shoot on Mondays and Tuesdays; 10- to 14-hour days are the norm.
“I’ve got the crazy energy, so I keep it going,” Logan said. “My body’s finally gotten used to this craziness I’m doing.”
Like the youngster he portrays, Logan has a passion for playing guitar and keeps it handy on the set to play when he has time to relax.
“I’m kind of a blues-rock kind of guitarist. That’s kind of my genre that I do,” he said. “... I play guitar every day. It’s like second-nature to me, almost. I’m always doing it.”
From Texas to California
The series has prompted Logan to move to an apartment in California, where his parents alternate being with him. Logan has passed the high school proficiency examination in California and graduated early, setting himself up to concentrate fully on his career.
Although his success has been a source of enjoyment for all his family, he was especially happy about a visit from his grandparents, Sharon and Marshall Miller, who recently were guests on the set.
“Having them be on-set was really cool,” Logan said. “They got to see some of our filming and stuff. ... It’s an exciting realm for anyone who hasn’t seen anything that happens in this business.”
Knowing “this business,” Logan continues to go to meetings and auditions to plan ahead for work when the season is over. It’s how he got the job for the series, though Disney already was familiar with his work.
“There’s tons of auditions lately,” he said. “More like meetings with people and different studios and stuff, just kind of getting my name out there and trying to find whatever works.”
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Nobody (anonymous) says...
Hey, before we know it, we'll need to name a street after Logan Miller; son of Marshall and Sharon Miller.
November 23, 2009 at 2:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )