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Artist Mills Adds 'Thumbsucker' to Resume

Fresh Air | By Terry Gross
Published February 10, 2006 at 2:58 PM EST
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The multi-talented Mike Mills has long worked on cool, edgy projects that mix art and commerce, from the Beastie Boys to the Gap.

Now Mills, who works as a graphic designer and directs documentaries and music videos, is making his feature film debut with Thumbsucker. The film, based on a novel by Walter Kirn, stars Vincent D'Onofrio, Tilda Swinton and Vince Vaughn. It had its debut at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.

Mills has made several short documentaries -- on subjects from love to skateboarding -- as well as commercials for Levi's, the Gap, Volkswagen, MasterCard and Nike. He has brought his unique style to music videos for Moby, Yoko Ono and the band Everything but the Girl. In addition, he has created graphics for the clothing label X-Girl and the bands Sonic Youth and the Beastie Boys.

This interview originally aired on Sept. 26, 2005.

Copyright 2022 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.

Terry Gross
Combine an intelligent interviewer with a roster of guests that, according to the Chicago Tribune, would be prized by any talk-show host, and you're bound to get an interesting conversation. Fresh Air interviews, though, are in a category by themselves, distinguished by the unique approach of host and executive producer Terry Gross. "A remarkable blend of empathy and warmth, genuine curiosity and sharp intelligence," says the San Francisco Chronicle.
See stories by Terry Gross