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 Miller plays Debra, a 32-year old supermarket cashier whose
daughter Bridget, a mother herself, fails to return home after a
night out.
Set in rural Pennsylvania, the harrowing drama follows Debra
over the course of 11 years as she looks after Bridget's toddler
son and faces personal hardships.
"It was grueling ... The idea of exploring that, the
unimaginable, my worst nightmare, felt interesting and that
being said when I agreed to do the film I was praying I wouldn't
have to because I started to dread what that would be and it was
impossibly hard," Miller told Reuters in an interview.
"Obviously not nearly as hard as the actual experience but I
spent a lot of time with people who had gone through that and it
was crushing. But we were a very strong group of cast members
and filmmakers and everybody was very supportive throughout,
which I think I really needed."
Miller, who has a young daughter, is known for supporting roles
in dramas "American Sniper" and "Foxcatcher" but she said
"American Woman" was harder than her past work.
"There were moments where I completely fell apart ... I think
anybody would, but I felt supported and I had my daughter to go
home to every night which is a huge blessing," she said.
Critics have praised her performance as Debra, who transforms
from brusque mistress to a more settled grandmother.
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"Women are often left to pick up the pieces of a broken life and
struggle through it and do their best," Miller said.
"I liked that it felt feminist, I liked that this woman was messy
and imperfect and I love looking at the bravery of a woman like that
... I liked potentially not respecting her at the beginning and
really respecting her by the end."
The film, released in Britain on Friday, also stars "Mad Men"
actress Christina Hendricks as Debra's sister Katherine and
"Breaking Bad" actor Aaron Paul as love interest Chris.
Miller, 37, said the female-led storytelling felt "new and original"
as well as "essential".
"I'd never read a script that was one woman in every scene, I never
had that experience in the 15 years that I have been making films,"
she said.
"I feel like I've seen men represented in that way and grown up with
that. Women are over half the population, they deserve to be
represented as well ... But the industry is shifting in a positive
way and so I hope to make more of these."
(Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Susan Fenton
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