The Flash star Ezra Miller is eyeing a return to Hollywood following abuse and harassment allegations, as well as a series of other controversies, that began in 2020.
All eyes were on Miller when they showed up at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (via Variety). The actor’s presence at the premiere for We Need to Talk About Kevin filmmaker Lynne Ramsay’s latest feature, Die My Love, marked one of their most public appearances in years, signaling that a more formal return to Hollywood is on the horizon.
Miller, who was thrust into the limelight with films like 2012’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower, became an important name in the movie world thanks to their status as the Flash in several DC films and Credence Barebone in the Fantastic Beasts Harry Potter spinoff films. Fans began to question their place in Hollywood when footage of the actor seemingly choking a fan found its way online. It was a confusing and alarming video that preceded a string of controversies that arrived in the years that followed.
Miller was arrested twice in Hawaii in 2022 – once for disorderly conduct and harassment in March of that year and again for second-degree assault just weeks later. A felony burglary charge for an event that took place in Vermont arrived in August 2022. The actor issued an apology for their behavior at the time, calling attention to “complex mental health issues” as they worked to “get back to a healthy, safe and productive stage in my life.”
Miller’s last major appearance in entertainment came with The Flash and its premiere in April 2023. They have largely remained hidden from the public eye since, with two of their recent showings including Cannes and June’s Filming Italy Sardegna. Italian publication Lo Speciale Giornale spoke with Miller at the latter, where they confirmed “tentative” plans to reintroduce themselves into the cinema sphere.
One part of the plan involves a new movie with Ramsay that the two will share writing credits on.
“I came to Cannes to support one of my closest friends in the world, who is Lynne Ramsay, who I think is one of the greatest living filmmakers,” Miller said. “I’m working with her again. That will likely be the first thing I do, is a film that her and I writing together. I’ve been writing a lot because you can do that in solitude, which has been friendly to me.”
Miller elaborated, explaining that they came to Cannes because Ramsay asked them to come, citing their belief in a “devotion to one’s people, to one’s loved ones, to one’s friends, to one’s comrades above all else.” The actor went as far as to admit they “didn’t want to go to Cannes,” calling it a “tough reentry point.”
“We’ve become very consumed in notions of perception, self-perception, how we’re perceived in the world,” Miller added. “I really believe in digging past that and being a friend to people, and the people who did that for me, they have my lifelong devotion.”
They continued: “Also, I’m grateful for the revelations of who was not that. You really… when you work in this industry, you will find yourself in deep, deep relation with a lot of people who do not give a single f**k about you or your well-being at all. Not that I don’t hold a lot of remorse and lamentation for a lot of things that I did and for a lot of things that happened in that time, but I’m really, really grateful for the lessons that came with that abyss.”
Ramsay told the Los Angeles Times that the upcoming project she is working on is a vampire movie where Miller is the main character. It’s unclear if Miller plans to be involved in any additional on-screen acting work or other projects.
For more, you can learn more about Miller’s role in Invincible that was recast in 2024. You can also read about the thoughts The Flash director Andy Muschietti shared about Miller in 2023. In April of that year, the Warner Bros. filmmaker praised the actor’s work on the DC movie, calling it “probably one of my best experiences working with an actor, ever.” He went on to suggest that DC should not recast the Flash star should a sequel ever come to be.
Photo by MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
