Ezra Miller: What is their Hollywood history and do they have a future in it? - explainer

American Jewish actor Ezra Miller has been grabbing headlines for months over a series of bizarre controversies and allegations of violence and sexual misconduct. 

Though currently facing a number of criminal charges for acts of violence, burglary and harassment, the 29-year-old Flash star finally issued an apology for their actions and said they were seeking treatment for their complex mental health issues.

All this came after months of staying silent amid a torrent of outrage that exploded in the wake of repeated accusations ranging from harassment, child grooming and running a cult in an AirBnB. These controversies were further amplified by the issues surrounding two high-profile films Miller is featured in: Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, which was released earlier this year; and The Flash, which is set to release in 2023.

But who really is Ezra Miller? What are all these controversies surrounding them and what brought this once critically acclaimed actor?

Here is everything you need to know.

Who is Ezra Miller? 

Ezra Miller was born in New Jersey and is the child of Robert S. Miller, a former top executive at Hyperion Books.

Like their father, Miller identifies as Jewish. 

Miller uses they/them pronouns and, though they have dated women, has come out as queer. Despite this, they have not indicated identifying with a more specific label, but have also said they practiced polyamory and had multiple partners.

What movies has Ezra Miller been in?

Ezra Miller's first movie was the 2008 film Afterschool, where they starred as protagonist Robert in a film that was met with critical acclaim. 

After a few other roles, their next major performance was in 2011 when they played the titular character in We Need to Talk About Kevin, a film about a teenager who goes on to commit several murders in his school. The film was also a critical success seeing Miller nominated for several awards.

After that, Miller had a supporting role in 2012's The Perks of Being a Wallflower, portraying the character Patrick Stewart. Here, their performance received critical acclaim and even won them some awards.

Ezra Miller in Fantastic beasts and the DCEU

Miller's career was significantly boosted in 2016 when they landed major roles in two major Warner Bros. franchises. First, they appeared in the widely anticipated Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, portraying Barry Allen, the identity of the superhero The Flash.

The film itself was divisive but Miller's performance stood out as being the actor Warner Bros. cast as one of the leading roles in its planned extensive DC Extended Universe, planned to rival the Marvel Cinematic Universe and essentially guaranteeing them several roles in the years to come.

That same year, Miller was also featured in the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the first film in the spin-off prequel to Warner Bros.'s critically and commercially successful Harry Potter franchise. 

In the following years, Miller would continue to star in DCEU and Fantastic Beasts films, having the main role in 2017's Justice League, 2018's Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, 2021's Zack Snyder's Justice League and 2022's Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.

However, this latter film was mired in controversy relating to allegations surrounding the actor.

What happened to Ezra Miller?

While there has been considerable controversy surrounding Miller and a whole host of allegations, the actor really only started making headlines in 2022 because of this.  

However, there are earlier incidents, such as in 2011, Miller was found in possession of 20 grams of marijuana.

More serious incidents later cropped up in the following decade.

In 2020, Miller appeared on video seemingly strangling and assaulting a woman at a bar in Reykjavik, Iceland, and it was confirmed in a report by Variety that Miller was promptly thrown out of the bar because of this.

That same year, they also reportedly began harassing and threatening a woman in Germany, getting hostile and accusing her of being transphobic and a Nazi.

In early 2022, Miller started to wear a bulletbroof vest and take a gun with him, supposedly fearing that they were being followed, either by the FBI or the Ku Klux Klan.

This vest and gun were noted when Miller reportedly threatened a woman and her 12-year-old child in Massachusetts. Supposedly, Miller claimed the child was a "mystical being" and wanted to start a line of clothing with them and buy them horses.

What happened to Ezra Miller in Hawaii?

Two years later, Miller reportedly had a violent clash with people at a Hawaii karaoke bar, for which they were arrested and charged with harassment and disorderly conduct. A few weeks later, they were arrested and charged with second-degree assault for an another violent incident, throwing a chair and striking a woman in the head.

What happened to Ezra Miller in Vermont?

Miller had a number of incidents in the state of Vermont. Firstly, they supposedly allowed guns and ammunition in easy access to a number of children aged 1-5.

Miller was supposedly housing a woman and these children, though when police came to the residence to find them in early August, they weren't there and Miller claimed they hadn't for months, though evidence exists to the contrary. 

Around the same time, Miller was arrested and charged with burglary, having broken into a home and stolen alcohol.

Did Ezra Miller have a cult?

By far one of the most unusual allegations against Miller is that they had run a cult. This supposedly took place in 2020 in an AirBnB in Reykjavik where they would allegedly groom and have sexual encounters with younger followers, hold spiritual speaches and have emotional outbursts in this makeshift commune.

At the time, according to a report by Insider, which interviewed several people involved, Miller allegedly went to find young women and nonbinary people and separated them from their families. Further allegations arose that he had sex with them. 

According to witnesses interviewed by Insider, Miller would imply that they were in possession of mystical powers, all the while having having some charisma, fame and wealth that made people there hesitant to oppose them.

They would also provide food, drink and drugs to the others in the makeshift compound.

This went on for a period of two months as the actor reportedly would walk through the city streets barefoot, with an infected gash on their foot.

The reports from Insider indicate that Miller's behavior was overall bizarre and offputting to several Icelanders, who noted that the actor never seemed to change their clothing, smelled terrible and acted aggressively.

One woman who spoke to Insider detailed some of the psychological abuse and trauma they felt spending just six days with Miller.

"It was only six days, but it honestly felt way, way longer," she told Insider. "I remember feeling, like, 'Wow, I don't know how I'm going to recover from this.'"

"It was only six days, but it honestly felt way, way longer," she told Insider. "I remember feeling, like, 'Wow, I don't know how I'm going to recover from this.'"

A woman who spent six days with Ezra Miller in Iceland

Ezra Miller and Tokata Iron Eyes

Much coverage has also focused on Miller's relationship with Tokata Iron Eyes, a Native American activist of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.

Iron Eyes is also the child of Native American activist, attorney and politician Chase Iron Eyes.

Iron Eyes and Miller reportedly met in 2016 when Miller was 23 and Iron Eyes just 12. According to Iron Eyes's parents, Miller has been abusive, had sex with Iron Eyes and provided them with copious amounts of drugs such as marijuana and LSD, which, along with threats of violence and paranoia, were used to control them.

Iron Eyes has denied many of these allegations. However, they did confirm to Insider that they used LSD and said that any evidence of bruises attributed to Miller was either self-inflicted or being "violently dragged" out of Miller's home by their parents.

According to Insider, which confirmed it via a medical report, Miller also assaulted Iron Eyes's mother, Sara Jumping Eagle, by slamming a car door on her arms to the point where urgent medical attention was needed.

Iron Eyes's parents have attempted to secure an order of protection against Miller for this reason.

Ezra Miller issues apology

On August 16, 2022, Miller finally released an apology following the many legal issues and allegations surrounding them.

In a statement given to Variety by a representative of the actor on Tuesday, Miller apologized for any alarm they have caused, saying, "Having recently gone through a time of intense crisis, I now understand that I am suffering complex mental health issues and have begun ongoing treatment.

"I want to apologize to everyone that I have alarmed and upset with my behavior. I am committed to doing the necessary work to get back to a healthy, safe and productive stage in my life." 

According to Variety, Warner Bros. has expressed their support of Miller's move to get professional help for their mental health issues.

What will happen to Ezra Miller's movies? What happens to The Flash?

The biggest question many people are asking in relation to the Ezra Miller scandals is what will happen to the widely anticipated Flash movie that Miller stars in.

Warner Bros. has consistently stated that they wouldn't cancel the film, nor would they recast Miller as filming had already finished.

Now, the situation surrounding this is actually somewhat complicated.

The Flash finished filming in the fall of 2021 but it was release was heavily delayed. This delay was sparked by a number of reasons such as the COVID-19 pandemic and several post-production issues, specifically in order to make sure that the visual effects would be finished. 

However, then all the controversies came out. 

While Warner Bros. has explained its reasoning for not canceling or recasting the movie, it isn't the first major controversy the company has experienced in relation to the films in the DCEU.

For example, the release of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was shrouded in the controversy of the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation lawsuit, as Heard starred in the Aquaman films as Mera. 

Due to the widespread public outrage at Heard, there was significant demand to have her removed from the film. This would have had precedence, too, such as when Warner Bros. removed Johnny Depp from the Fantastic Beasts franchise over allegations of abuse.

However, at the time of writing, despite many allegations and claims, hears still remains attatched to the role and the film is set to hit theaters in March 2023.

In addition ot this though is the situation surrounding the Batgirl film.

The film itself was widely anticipated and was nearly complete However, despite the massive amount of money invested in it, Warner Bros. decided to scrap the film entirely. This, itself, seems to show that if Warner Bros. feels it needs to, then it very easily can still cancel a movie, even one almost finished.

In early August, reports emerged that Warner Bros. was considering recasting The Flash in future films should Miller not apologize or get professional help. In addition, the studio supposedly also considered outright canceling the film entirely, though evidently, Warner Bros. would prefer not to have wasted $200 million spent to make The Flash movie.

So what happens now? 

It seems the film will hit theaters in June 2023 as planned. 

Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.