Interviews with “Miracles From Heaven” Director Patricia Riggen and Eugenio Derbez

Jennifer Garner, Eugenio Derbez and Director Patricia Riggen Miracles from Heaven Miami press event

I recently attended an advanced screening the newest faith and family film, Miracles From Heaven. An astonishing true story of a girl rescued by an out-of-the-blue accident, comes this rousing portrait of a family suddenly discovering joy and promise in the most tumultuous moment of their lives. I sat down with Director Patricia Riggen (The 33) and Latino Actor and recent recipient of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Eugenio Derbez (Instructions not included).

Q:Why was it important for you to take on the role of the Doctor?

Eugenio Derbez:Well, it is not often that you get to portray a latino that is not a criminal or a narco. it was very inspiring to portray this Doctor, a Harvard professor that is a probably number one in his field, and it happens to be a Latino, a Mexican, so I’m very proud

Q:Why was it important for you to be a part of this story?

Patricia Riggen: There are very few movies like this made nowadays, so when one bumps into it you have to take it. I took it with a lot of responsibility, to be very truthful to the real characters and to bring to the audience a movie that is highly emotional and very uplifting.

Q:Directed at Eugenio- You always touch upon some social component that affect families, Lightly and with humor as in “La Familia Peluche” and “Instructions not Included” you touch upon issues that are filled with emotion and are heart wrenching. What message do you aim to open up to families?

Eugenio Derbez: I love when a movie touches your heart. In my experience when you watch a comedy and you just laugh, there is no message behind the laugh, you leave the theater empty. But when you put heart in the story , in the film, you feel related to those who watch the movie. Those elements make the film yours and you walk out feeling related to those characters.

Q: The film is beautiful and very relatable,what part of the story did not get into the film?

Patricia Riggen: When you tell a story on the screen, you have two hours. The sickness was longer, it had more steps. Christy Beam the mom had to go through many doctors to get a diagnosis. They kept missing it and she knew something was wrong, and she didn’t stop until she finally reached Dr. Nurko. That I had to condense, but we stayed true to the story, and everything else is in there.

Q: How did you manage not to preach with the movie while keeping the message of hope?

Patricia Riggen: When I got the script, it was very religious and very dogmatic, and I felt we needed to be very open and inclusive of people of different faiths and even for people who have no faith. I consider myself to have very good values, I like things like human kindness, family , so I made sure to bring those elements into the movie and make it more universal. But not shy away from the story of faith either. Jennifer’s character Christy Beam, at the center of her story is her faith, so I completely embraced it.