Ezra Matthew Miller (born September 30, 1992) is an American actor, known for his roles in the films City Island (2009), Another Happy Day (2011), and We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011). He starred in the 2012 teen drama The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and has signed on to play the role of Léon Dupuis in Sophie Barthes' adaptation of the Gustave Flaubert novel Madame Bovary.
Miller was born and raised in Wyckoff, a community in Bergen County, New Jersey. His mother, Marta, is a modern dancer. His father, Robert S. Miller, was senior vice president and managing director of Walt Disney Company's adult book publishing division, Hyperion Books, and is a publisher at Workman Publishing. Miller has two older sisters, Saiya and Caitlin. He considers himself Jewish, and "spiritual" (his father is Jewish and his mother is from a Christian background).
When he was six, Miller started to train as an opera singer, to help him overcome a speech impediment. He has sung with the Metropolitan Opera. He performed in the U.S. premiere of Philip Glass's contemporary opera White Raven. He attended The Rockland Country Day School and The Hudson School, dropping out at sixteen, after the release of his film Afterschool.
Miller is a drummer and a singer in a New York-based band called Sons of an Illustrious Father.
Miller has described himself as queer. He has stated "The way I would choose to identify myself wouldn't be gay. I've been attracted mostly to 'shes' but I've been with many people and I'm open to love wherever it can be." He has also detailed, "I've had many, you know, 'happy ending sleepovers' in my early youth... my period of exploration. I think that's essential. Anyone who hasn't had a gay moment is probably trying to avoid some confrontation with a reality in their life."
-Wikipedia
Have you always wanted to be an actor?
When I was very little, I was sort of consumed by a love for opera. Weirdly enough, I went from being really enthusiastic about construction vehicles at the age of seven to being really passionate about La Traviata by the time I was eight.
Then I also maintained the thing which every child has; which is that as kids we all run around and play make believe. My mother took me to a lot of operas and when I was eight I got the opportunity to be in one and I realised that transformation into these make-believe situations was possible. I decided that was essentially what I wanted to with my life. Then I read this film when I was 14 [Afterschool] and it hit so many nerves at the same time and I’d discovered this ultimate form of make-believe; no singing, you just simply had to pretend to be someone else. It was kind of like love at first sight.
You’ve also played a gay teen and a weird boarding school kid. Do you think you are drawn to ‘troubled’ roles?
I’d say I’m drawn to characters that ring true to me. Adolescence is a troubled time for everyone, so a lot of those characters have been troubled, tortured people. It’s been a great way to navigate my adolescence by having these more troubled kids as an outlet.
You’ve spoken quite openly about smoking marjuuana. Are you still a strong advocate?
[Ezra was arrested for possession last year while filming The Perks of Being a Wallflower, he said in an interview after “I don’t feel like there’s any need to hide the fact that I smoke pot. It’s a harmless herbal substance that increases sensory appreciation.”]
I never intended to be a strong advocate of smoking pot. I certainly don’t condemn it — it’s something that in its nature is different for each individual. It’s something that grows out of the ground and when you smoke it all sorts of things happen. It’s something everyone has to decide whether it makes sense for them, but I don’t think we should fill jail cells with people for smoking the equivalent of rosemary.
-Ezra Miller: A friend told me “I love you but I can’t look at your face anymore”
“I’m queer. I have a lot of really wonderful friends who are of very different sexes and genders. I am very much in love with no one in particular. I’ve been trying to figure out relationships, you know? I don’t know if it’s responsible for kids of my age to be so aggressively pursuing monogamous binds, because I don’t think we’re ready for them. The romanticism within our culture dictates that that’s what you’re supposed to be looking for. Then [when] we find what we think is love -- even if it is love -- we do not yet have the tools. I do feel that it’s possible to be at this age unintentionally hurtful, just by being irresponsible -- which is fine. I’m super down with being irresponsible. I’m just trying to make sure my lack of responsibility no longer hurts people. That’s where I’m at in the boyfriend/girlfriend/zefriend type of question.”
-Ezra in OUT
Ezra Miller.net
We Need to Talk About Ezra Miller (one of the million tumblrs about him)
"Ezra Miller and the perks of being a new kind of pin-up"
Ezra Miller IMDB
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p.s. Hey. Today the mighty scribe and d.l. Postitbreakup would like you to center your attention on this guy Ezra Miller and then ruminate accordingly and form thoughts relative to Mr. Miller and, if the mood consequently strikes, share said Millerisms with him and the gang around here, and that would be very cool, so please do those things. Thank you, and thank you ever so much, P. Otherwise, I'm going to need to be kind of quick and short with you guys today, sorry, because, as I had completely forgotten until last night, I have to take a train to Lyon to do a talk at an art school there today. But I'll be back in Paris and my usual talkative self tomorrow, and I'll have my 'favorites of the year' lists in tow, so, if you don't mind, start thinking about your favorite stuff of 2012 and then share your bests with me tomorrow. Cool. ** Kiddiepunk, Thanks, man. I'll give you a buzz tomorrow so we can get on the buche narrowing and scoring. ** Ian Tuttle, Hey, whoa, hi, Ian! How incredibly cool to see you! Sorry to be in a rushing state on the day of your ultra-welcome return. Why are you in Barcelona? Nice place to be, by the way. 'Fresh Acconci', yeah, excellent thing. You good? What's been going on? Really swell to see you, pal! ** Un Cœur Blanc, Hi. That is a beautiful text re: the Wisteria Tunnel. Even when reading it with hurried eyes that are insufficiently coffeed-up. Thank you a lot for sharing it. Oh, well, you can write to me, if you want. You know my email address, I think. Love for now. ** Katalyze, Hi, Kat! All these nice returns on a day when I have to be a fidgety host, sucks. Thanks for storing up the tunnels for me. Send them, if you like. There can never be too many tunnel days. You good? What's new? Love, me. ** Billy Lloyd, Yeah, I guess punk rock at 6 am just sounded like an alarm clock, especially in 1976 when the airwaves were full of prog and fusion and country-rock and punk still had sledgehammer effect on the unsuspecting. Oh, you're from Pittsburgh. See, I did not know that. I think a cross country road trip is a super great idea. Done a few. US road trips are the best. You probably don't need any itinerary tips, but, if you do, say the word. Very cool about 'Stranger'. Very cool. Oh, I don't know, I get super sped up and feel like a million bucks when I go vegan, but I also tend to get into eating almost nothing when I do that, and I get skeleton skinny as a result, so maybe the rush I get is more akin the rush that I guess anorexics supposedly get. Definitely haven't seen those sausages before. But there's a big UK-only food store on the Champs Elysee that might have them and where I've been meaning to go anyway because I'm jonesing hard for a scone. ** David Ehrenstein, I want to see 'Cloud Atlas'. It isn't here yet. Early next year, I think. Well, it was that party where Allen saved you from the Ash that I was thinking about. I'm sure that you and Allen did the right thing. Very interesting sounding Gus party. Gus and his newbies and his promises ... some things never change. Nice about the Matt Damon face to face. He always seemed like he'd be a fine fella. ** xTx, Hey! Oh, gosh, thank you, pal! How the heck are you, maestro? Love, me. ** Cobaltfram, Hi. I don't know, I just remember that latest Santigold sounding blah. But I'll try listening to it again one of these days. If you put your XBOX in your suitcase, no one will be the wiser. I've never seen a single passenger arriving in France ever have their bags more than glanced at in a bored fashion by the customs guys. Thursday ... that might work, yeah. I'm too rushed this morning to figure out a time right now, so let's check in about that tomorrow here or somewhere. Yeah, celebrate what she's done, man. Aging is a fucking creep, and it grabs then does its ugly number on even the best of us. The JTL thing ... the preliminary phone interview made them want to film me for the documentary, so they're sending over a film crew, I'm not sure when yet. ** 5STRINGS, Maybe Gisele's dolls are the French Barbies, but I think there are French Barbies maybe? Sebastian could totally wipe the floor with Axl in a gargling contest. Weird about your black out. We had a big one here in Paris yesterday. Everything in my area of Paris went pitch black for about twenty minutes. I was in the train station. If it had been the US, we all would have been robbed and killed by each other. But no one broke a sweat. They just pulled out their copies of Le Monde and read them contemplatively by the lights of their cellphones. ** Robert-nyc, Hi, Robert. Nice to see you. It's true about that Bund movie idea. It's true. Thanks. Oh, uh, I guess you can just wait and send me the galleys in March, if you want. Whatever you want. Whatever is best and easiest for you, in other words. Yeah, use the dcooperweb address if you write to me. It looks good about the French citizenship. Right now, he's gathering up the official documents he needs and stuff, but it should go well, I think, I hope, and take three to six months to process, and then, theoretically, he could go to the US at last. He'll still need a US visa, but it'll be the kind that they basically just hand out without hassle. We'll see. Yeah, an LA trip would probably be the first thing we do. Take care, R. ** Rewritedept, Hi, man. Makes sense, yeah. Oh, the albums ... okay, I'm in a rush, so, totally off the top of my head, I'll pick, uh, The Replacements 'Let it Be,' Sonic Youth 'Evol', and, uh, yeah, I think 'New Day Rising'. New job in what realm, do you think? Is working on The Strip ever an option? Like as a black jack dealer or something? Hm, yeah, that's tough about your friend the bass player. Aesthetics vs. friend-love, man, I don't know. I won't belabor the topic for reasons of my sped-up brain and so I won't stretch your bad mood out any longer, but, yeah, ugh. Well, since Debbie says she didn't play a single note on the new MBV album, I wonder how reliable her prediction is, you know? Nah, I think Kurt could've done even better, and I bet he knew that somehow. I think doing better just wasn't important to him anymore. Saw your email. I'll have to wait until tomorrow to open and read it and respond, but I will, of course. Glad you dug the Mirov poem. His new book 'Hider Roser' is awesome. ** Hyrule Dungeon, Hi! Excellent, man, thank you! ** The Dreadful Flying Glove, Hi, Glove, superb to see you! Cool that you liked the Kempinas, and you're welcome, and thanks. Ouch. Yeah, swimming is real good for the back. Take it from a weak-backed guy, and I think you'll be doing the butterfly and backstroke and all that fancy stuff before you know it. They say the body's memory is better than the mind's, even though ... well, I don't know, but that's what they say or what somebody says. Have a bon, pain-free day. ** Misanthrope, I had this feeling you'd have some kind of rectum spin off thought. Oh, you know, I don't really give a shit about Beyonce. I just like that song/video. Sometimes a calculated poppy thing works on me, that's all. Like Ke$ha's 'Die Young'. Dig it, but don't have any Ke$ha love. I've never heard or seen 'If I Were a Boy', as far as I know, although I've probably heard it a hundred times without thinking about it. I think Ton is still peaking, but you know me. Seems like Morrissey is right about that one, from what you say. See, yesterday they announced the new Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame inductees, and my point was proven a thousand times over, i.e. Heart gets inducted and they pass over Kraftwerk yet again? That's so stupid that it's way, way beyond madness. ** Will Decker, Well, hi there, Will. Thank you about the tunnels, and thanks for your related memories and thoughts. That Chicago Project things sounds very interesting from the quick skim that I have to give it on this hurried morning. That sounds how they do things over here as a general rule. Everyone, interesting possibility/plan re: arts funding in the US passed along by Will Decker yesterday if you want to go back into yesterday's comments and find it. It's nearish the bottom. Thank you a lot, and take care. ** Sypha, Well, I'm glad you did, and I'm glad you asked just following a day when I had actually gotten out of my room and done things, ha ha. Those cookies sound quite delicious, yes. I think they stock Hersheys products over here. I'll go look. That would explain the headaches, I guess, ha ha. 'The Tunnel' has been on my must-read list for far too long. ** Steevee, I've seen a little bit about the 'ZDT' controversy welling up online, yeah, but I haven't delved into it too much because, yeah, I just want to see the film and not have to go into seeing it having pre-set ideas about its politics or morality or whatever. I'll check into that stuff once it's under my belt. ** Bill P. in Chicago, Ha ha, yes, nice. About Voyager 2, I mean. No, I don't know know what that tunnel pull is about. I'm definitely resisting the 'return to the womb' explanation. I like the mystery of the pull, I guess. It's certainly true that the characters in 'TMS' are a space rather than a destination. I think that's true in all of my work, but especially or more overtly in that novel. Sorry to have be swift today. More tomorrow, man, and take care. ** E., Wow, perfect, that's awesome, thank you on behalf of the tunnels. Nice about your trees folder. A trees post would be a cool thing to do, come to think of it. Hm. Oh, yeah, your living situation sounds okay. In my brief university stint, I lived in the 'apartment living' dorm. Nice idea with the shared living room and kitchen and stuff, but everybody in my group just stayed in their little bedrooms, including me, so the purpose was utterly defeated. Oh, yeah, sorry, I tend to use shorthand about stuff, and I forget that the backstories aren't famous or whatever, ha ha. I do dislike carbonated drinks with a passion. We're total weirdos, you and me. High five. Mm, this place where I live is very quiet. People keep mostly to themselves, and the walls are wonderfully very thick, so I rarely even know who's staying here. Occasionally, an artist I really like will stay here, and that's cool, obviously, because I have an excuse to meet up with them and become friends. But mostly you just see people in the halls and the elevator and wonder who they are. ** Bill, Hi, B. Oh, I wondered if, since you've visited that part of the world on occasion, if you'd been in the Bund tunnel. I guess not? It kind of tripped me out in a marvelously cheesy way. No, I haven't been to any UX events, which is stupid. When I get back from Lyon, I'll see if there's any left, and I will. ** Okay. Apologies again for having to speed along today. Please take Postitbreakup's tip and make Ezra Miller your icon for the day, okay? Okay. See you tomorrow.