Ezra Miller's Hollywood ascent is no flash in the pan
With two huge Hollywood franchises under his belt, Ezra Miller's ascent to stardom is almost as swift as, well, the Flash.
Miller is shooting the sequel to last year's Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them in London, where he reprises his role as antagonist Credence Barebone. You can catch him first in Justice League as Barry Allen/The Flash, who can move at superhuman speeds and is recruited and mentored by Bruce Wayne/Batman.
He first came into prominence after memorable turns in We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011) and The Perks Of Being A Wallflower (2012).
The 25-year-old US actor is thrilled with his good fortune, as we chat at the Rosewood London hotel. While the Flash provides comic relief in the movie, Miller himself has a quirky sense of humour.
He stays firmly on topic with Justice League and is completely mum on Fantastic Beasts 2, but he offers this: "I cannot confirm or deny whether Credence will be any more than the wisp of dust that you saw (in the finale of Fantastic Beasts), but I can confirm that he is in the movie, dust or not."
Miller finds it fascinating to reprise a character in a franchise and will "love" to return to play the Flash if asked.
He says: "The idea of all these superheroes putting aside personal differences and their own narrative about themselves in order to unite for a great purpose, that all feels like the makings of greatness to me. I am really interested in the ways that arcs can be larger."
When asked what his own power is as a person, he jokes: "I would go with something simple like love. That is what I am trying to be, a good lover in the world."
He laughs when asked to expand on his answer.
"Just forget what you have been told and allow for feeling to guide you and follow the call of love as opposed to following the calling of some person who wants to enforce or dictate what love can be for you. Those people suck."
Miller, who is also an accomplished opera singer, wants to continue exercising all his artistic muscles.
But the quips have to come first.
"Just wait till you see my finger paintings," he says.
"I think art is art is art, and that is how that feels for me and I don't feel much of a distinction of the types of art I make, so I love the ones that I am doing a lot right now and would love to keep doing them a lot."
He would also like to be involved in a "mass movement all over the world that accelerates the way we are dealing with climate change".
He said: "That is what I usually think about when it comes to legacy and generational stuff. Our grandchildren are not going to care if we were cool or made cool films, they will care if they have clean water and clean air to breathe." - MEHER TATNA
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