For now, most have only seen 16-year-old Sami Gayle co-starring as Tom Selleck’s precocious but sensitive granddaughter in CBS’ acclaimed drama “Blue Bloods.” However, the Weston-raised actress is on the cusp of a major breakout in films. Next year will see her sharing the screen in a sci-fi thriller with Paul Giamatti (The Congress) and an actioner with Nicolas Cage (Medallion), but her introduction on the big screen arrives in a much-anticipated independent film: Detachment.
The film’s director Tony Kaye burst on to the indie scene in 1998 as the director of American History X, a film about a Neo-Nazi skinhead that helped make Edward Norton a star, and Kaye had not made a feature since. Kaye found Gayle working on Broadway and cast her as a teenage prostitute in his long overdue follow-up, Detachment.
Starring and co-produced by Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody, the film offers a grim look 
at the generational divide between today’s youth and the teachers trying to reach them. Speaking over the phone ahead of her visit to the Miami Beach Cinematheque, where Gayle will introduce the film and participate in a Q&A, Gayle says, “We’re really trying to promote the film and promote the message of the film, which we think is very strong and socially relevant in today’s society.”
As can be expected from Kaye, Detachment features some heavy subject matter. Dealing with issues of sexuality, bullying and abuse, the MPAA has not rated the movie. However, Gayle thinks a more mature young audience can handle the film. “I think that, ultimately, that’s up to the parents,” she notes, “but I think that the message the film gives of parental guidance and about the effect that a teacher can have on a student’s life, as well as the flaws in the public education system and the good things about the public education system, I think it’s good for kids to see it.”
Detachment marks Gayle’s first experience in a feature film. Shot two years ago, she still relies on many lessons she learned working with Brody. “Every single day, Adrien said to me, going into a scene, ‘It has to be you and me against the world in this scene,’ and what he taught me is the importance of intimacy between the actors in a scene … I think Adrien is such a present actor that it was easy to portray the feelings that I had to portray in the film.”
Detachment is not rated and runs 97 min. It opened in Miami Beach Thursday, May 10, at the Miami Beach Cinematheque, which hosted a preview screening for the purposes of this story. Co-star Sami Gayle will appear tonight at the Miami Beach Cinematheque, Friday, at 8:45 p.m., to introduce the film and for a Q&A with the audience after the screening. Detachment also opens in the Miami area at the University of Miami’s Cosford Cinema, Friday, May 11, at 9 p.m. and at the Tower Theater at 9:15 p.m.
