Studio Cut

Oscar-nominated actor Greg Kinnear stars in Touchstone Pictures’ new teen drama “The Last Song” as the estranged father to Miley Cyrus’ character.

Based on Nicholas Sparks’ latest bestselling novel, “The Last Song” is set in a small Southern beach town where Steve (Kinnear) gets a chance to spend the summer with his reluctant teenage daughter (Cyrus), who’d rather be home in New York . He tries to reconnect with her through the only thing they have in common—music—in a story of family, friendship, secrets and salvation, along with first loves and second chances.

Kinnear, who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar® for his role in “As Good as It Gets,” plays Steve Miller, a concert pianist who left his family to concentrate on a career that didn’t pan out the way he hoped. Steve is now trying to reconnect with his two children before it’s too late. “Steve wants to reunite with his kids and get to know them again,” says the actor. “There are a lot of things that are unknown at the start of this movie, and they’re revealed over the course of the summer.”

The commitment Kinnear made to the role of Steve stayed with director Julie Anne Robinson. “Greg is so detailed,” she says. “I’ve worked with a lot of really great actors and Greg is definitely one of them. He cared so deeply about every aspect of his character, he would phone me up over the weekend with questions about a scene. He was Steve all day every day.”

The Miller family’s fractured dynamic struck a chord with Kinnear. “I was touched by the difficulty of trying to make permanent connections in a family that’s had a seismic rift in its infrastructure,” says Kinnear. “The parents are split up for reasons we don’t explore, but it seems like no one is necessarily at fault. But, as always, kids have taken the hit and in this case, the oldest daughter, Ronnie, is in that vulnerable stage where anger and hostility can be a real outlet. She’s mad as hell and she’s not going to take it anymore. My character is trying to repair that and resuscitate a sense of family.”

But Steve has a secret that he’s keeping from his family. “He’s trying to protect them, but until they have that information, there’s no way for this family to move forward,” says Kinnear. “I think Nicholas Sparks has a wonderful way with secrets. It’s dealt with very effectively.”

The father of three daughters, Kinnear is acutely sensitive to the challenges that come with the territory. “Father-daughter relationships are particularly complicated,” he says. “Steve’s relationship with his daughter is strained, to put it nicely, but he’s trying. He’s swimming upstream, because she’s full of salt and vinegar and has a lot of preconceived ideas about her father. Some aren’t entirely true, and that will be discovered.”

Kinnear was impressed by Cyrus’ work on the film. “This role asks a lot of Miley,” he says. “It’s full of complex emotions. She did really well. Miley has a great heart and she’s a real pro. I admire that. She takes it seriously, but at the same time, she keeps the environment charged with a lot of fun and a lot of energy. She’s an incredibly impressive 16-year-old.”

Opening across the Philippines on May 12, “The Last Song” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.