Interview by Paul Salfen, Text by Christine Thompson for AMFM Magazine
In an exclusive conversation with AMFM Magazine Managing Editor Paul Salfen, rising star William Franklyn-Miller opens up about the once-in-a-lifetime honor — and the immense personal weight — of portraying a 21-year-old George Washington in director Jon Erwin’s powerful new historical epic Young Washington – A Founder’s Story. Slated for nationwide theatrical release on July 3, 2026 (Independence Day Weekend), during America’s 250th anniversary celebrations, the film from the creators of House of David and American Underdog finally tells the rarely seen origin chapter of the man who would become the Father of Our Country. Franklyn-Miller reveals how he researched the ambitious, vulnerable young adult behind the legend, the dream-like immersion of shooting entirely on practical locations in Ireland’s wild landscapes, and the simple yet profound moment when putting on Washington’s iconic hat instantly transformed his posture, presence, and mindset. This is more than a biopic — it’s a hero’s journey about rising after failure, earning leadership, and the courage it takes to help forge a nation.
When Salfen greeted him on set, the excitement in the room was palpable. “It’s a good time to be you, right?” Salfen asked. Franklyn-Miller’s response captured the moment perfectly: “It’s surreal. Honestly. Surreal. I still can’t believe it.”
He knew immediately this role carried extraordinary responsibility. “It’s a very important time in our country, and it’s a very important piece of our history,” he said. “You kind of got to be a little bit delicate with a little bit nervous going into it 100%. It’s a big ask and a massive responsibility.” When the offer first came, he had to pause and ask himself honestly: Can I really do this to the best of my ability? The answer came through deep research into a part of Washington’s life that remains surprisingly undocumented.
“There’s so much available about his older years,” Franklyn-Miller explained. “It was almost doing the whole time travel thing — he was ambitious, this is what led him to it. But how did that start? Where was the root of it?” The challenge was capturing the 21- or 22-year-old version, the young man whose early ambition and missteps would eventually shape the leader who forged a country.
Franklyn-Miller describes the ten-week shoot as an actor’s dream. Shot entirely on location in Ireland (standing in for colonial Virginia and the untamed frontier), Young Washington used almost no soundstage work. “Everything was practical. It was all in the woods… battle scenes in the woods, in the wet with rain going off, mud, horses, all sorts of stuff, muskets, explosions. It really helps your mentality to get in there and feel like you’re in it.”
The immersion became so complete that at times he would wander the set completely lost in character, only for the cameraman to gently remind him: “Listen, you’ve got to really face the camera for these scenes, we’re actually filming you, little loader.”
Asked what advice he would give aspiring actors dreaming of leading a major film, Franklyn-Miller was refreshingly honest: “It’s tough. I wasn’t prepared for it at all… I didn’t know what it was going to take, but I knew that I had it in me to stand up to the task.”
The key, he discovered, was twofold: confidence and trust in yourself, and a genuine commitment to making sure the entire cast and crew were enjoying the process and working as one. “It’s not just one thing leading a film, but it’s also making sure that the whole cast get along and everyone really fits to make the film as good as it can be.” He compared it directly to Washington’s own journey: rising through the ranks in battle, learning on the job, sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing, but always moving forward.
When it came time to step into character for the big moments, one simple ritual proved more powerful than any acting exercise. “Putting on that bloody hat — the beautiful, amazing hat — really just sets you in the mood, and the jacket and everything,” Franklyn-Miller shared. “Your posture is almost sort of… you can’t really move in it. You’re automatically given your broad shoulders, your head is raised high. Really just the culmination of everything gives you that confidence and gives you those sort of qualities.”
In that moment, the young actor didn’t just play George Washington — he felt what it meant to carry the weight of a future nation on his shoulders.
Surrounded by an extraordinary ensemble (Sir Ben Kingsley as Robert Dinwiddie, Andy Serkis as General Braddock, Mary-Louise Parker as Mary Washington, Kelsey Grammer as Lord Fairfax, and Joel Smallbone as William Fairfax) Franklyn-Miller led with humility and dedication. The result is a sweeping, emotional origin story that shows Washington’s vulnerability, his first love, his early failures, and the relentless drive that would one day help birth a country.
As director Jon Erwin has noted, this is ultimately a story that unites us all – not red or blue, but deeply American. Franklyn-Miller’s performance captures exactly why: the timeless truth that greatness often begins in uncertainty, forged through courage, character, and the willingness to keep going when everything seems lost.
Young Washington arrives in theaters nationwide July 3, 2026. Audiences are in for something rare: a historical epic that feels both grand and intimately human, and a young actor who has more than earned his place at the center of it.
