Ezra Miller, the genderqueer star of the Fantastic Beasts franchise, is quickly becoming iconic. The Jewish actor — who got his big break in The Perks of Being a Wallflower and We Need to Talk About Kevin — is poised to become a worldwide superstar thanks to his role in the Harry Potter spin-off, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
It was only a matter of time before we gave him our “18 Things” treatment.
(Quick note on Ezra’s pronouns: “I’m comfortable with all the pronouns,” Ezra said recently, “I let he/his/him ride, and that’s fine.”)
1. His mom is a modern dancer, and his dad is a book publisher. He was born and raised in New Jersey, and he dropped out of high school after Beethoven came to him in a dream. (Yes, really.)
2. Ezra trained as an opera singer beginning at age 6.
3. Ezra calls himself Jewish and “spiritual.”
4. In a Justice League movie, Ezra plays Barry Allen/The Flash (alongside Gal Gadot‘s Wonder Woman), and ad-libbed the line describing the character as a “long-haired, very attractive Jewish boy.” Even though The Flash is not canon Jewish, we love it.
5. Ezra has great bone structure. Not really a fun fact, more of an observation (as a recent GQ profile writes: “Miller himself is quite slender, with the high cheekbones and perfect jawline of a Victorian prince.”)
me: h-
ezra miller’s bone structure: pic.twitter.com/V0VEOsdUYc— ellie 🪐 (@eleanorbate) November 13, 2018
6. Ezra has a farm in Vermont, where the goats (named Kathy, Betty, Patty, and Noisette) listen to NPR.
(Ezra Miller and one of their goats in The Hollywood Reporter)
https://twitter.com/Hello_Tailor/status/1060871809963311104
https://twitter.com/Hello_Tailor/status/1060871809963311104
7. On identifying as queer, Ezra explains, “Yeah, absolutely. Which is to say, I don’t identify. Like, fuck that. Queer just means no, I don’t do that. I don’t identify as a man. I don’t identify as a woman. I barely identify as a human.”
8. When he came out in 2012, he was told he made a mistake. “I was told by a lot of people I’d made a mistake… I won’t specify. Folks in the industry, folks outside the industry. People I’ve never spoken to. They said there’s a reason so many gay, queer, gender-fluid people in Hollywood conceal their sexual identity, or their gender identity in their public image. I was told I had done a ‘silly’ thing in… thwarting my own potential to be a leading man.”
9. Ezra is in a band called “Sons of an Illustrious Father,” a “genderqueer ensemble.” His bandmates, for Ezra, “have been the greatest blessing for me and have enabled me to even attempt to paddle out into this misty lake.” (“This misty lake” = fame/Hollywood)
10. He hates cell phones — “I find the presence of cell phones bad for my mood. I can feel cell phones when they’re around.”
11. On #MeToo, Ezra thinks, “Let’s drop men like flies. I’m with it. And then let’s rehabilitate them when they’re on the ground. This is some Wonder Woman shit right here. What’s the Amazonian solution to this?” (AMEN.)
12. His style is amazing.
13. Ezra is a sloth stuffed animal collecter. Just read this delightful Vulture profile opening: “‘I’m gonna let you know how deep this addiction is,’ Miller says, unfastening the sloth’s Velcro paws. ‘I already have this exact stuffed animal.’ Still, he buys it. As Miller clasps the sloth’s arms around his neck and wears it like a particularly eccentric piece of jewelry, he announces, ‘I’m naming him Richard Jenkins, after the actor Richard Jenkins.'”
14. When Ezra started filming Fantastic Beasts, he called none other than Hermione herself, Emma Watson, for advice on director David Yates. (The two starred in The Perks of Being a Wallflower together.) Ezra asked Emma, “‘Does he really remain so zen through the process of making a film’? And she said, ‘It’s hard to believe, but yes.’ She said, ‘I’ve never heard his voice go above a certain number of decibels, because he really is disciplined and centered.'”
15. Okay let’s just look at more beautiful photos of Ezra:
Good morning to Ezra Miller, his cheekbones and his editorial in the latest GQ Style. pic.twitter.com/M6CAV4WkiZ
— Ξvan Ross Katz (@evanrosskatz) November 5, 2018
16. Ezra and Zoë Kravitz were linked together in 2010. As one user tweeted, “ezra miller and zoë kravitz are the hottest people in the world. that’s why they broke up.. they were just too powerful together.”
https://twitter.com/bestofezra/status/1044511763809669120
17. On the new Fantastic Beasts installment, Ezra says it “is a serious push by some of the greatest artists in the game to elevate in a way that’s inspiring to watch and be around.”
18. Ezra thinks you should be your own best friend: “The second you endow yourself to be your own best protector — your own best friend, your own best lover — you’ve already won.”
