Ezra Miller, seen here as The Flash, was arrested in Hawaii in March for disorderly conduct and harassment.
Warner Bros. Pictures
Actor Ezra Miller, who portrays Barry Allen/The Flash in movies, has been making headlines lately. Here’s what we know.
Who’s Ezra Miller?
Miller, 29, played DC Comics superhero The Flash in Justice League; Suicide Squad; Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice; and on related TV shows. Miller also plays the superhero in the character’s standalone film, The Flash, coming out in 2023.
The actor, who uses they/them pronouns, starred in We Need to Talk About Kevin and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. They also play Credence Barebone/Aurelius Dumbledore in the Fantastic Beasts movie series, which is a spin-off of Harry Potter. Miller also played Trashcan Man in The Stand miniseries.
Latest Hawaii arrest
On April 18, Miller was at a private home on Hawaii’s Big Island and reportedly threw a chair that hit a woman, causing a half-inch cut, The New York Times reports. According to the newspaper, the woman refused treatment, but Miller was arrested at 1:30 a.m. and later released “pending further investigation.”
Earlier Hawaii arrest
That Hawaii arrest wasn’t the first in the Aloha State for the actor. Miller was arrested there on March 28 and charged with disorderly conduct and harassment after an incident at a bar, according to CNN. Representatives for Miller did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CNN cites a police statement that said Miller began “yelling obscenities” while bar patrons sang karaoke, then “grabbed the microphone from a 23-year-old woman singing karaoke and later lunged at a 32-year-old man playing darts.” Miller was released after posting $500 bail.
Things get weirder. Miller was apparently staying with a Hawaiian couple (reportedly they were the ones who bailed him out of jail after the karaoke incident) and they later filed for a restraining order against Miller, saying the actor “burst into the bedroom of the petitioner(s) and threatened” the alleged male victim by “saying ‘I will bury you and your slut wife.'” The complaint against Miller also says the actor stole things from the couple, including a social security card, wallet, passport, driver’s license and bank cards.
According to The Associated Press, Miller was the subject of calls to the Hilo, Hawaii, police 10 times since March 7. The calls were about minor incidents, such as filming people at a gas station, refusing to leave the sidewalk area of a restaurant and arguing with people, the AP reports.
Back in 2020, Variety reported on a video where a person who appears to be Miller grabs a woman around her neck and throws her to the ground in a Rekjavik, Iceland bar. Variety reports that Miller was escorted off the premises.
What does this mean for Miller’s future?
A Rolling Stone report that Warner Brothers and DC had an “emergency meeting” after Miller’s arrest and decided to hold off on any future projects involving the actor seems to be overblown.
Miller’s work on The Flash is completed. That film is set to come out on June 23, 2023, and after that, Miller doesn’t have any other projects scheduled with Warner Bros. While his Hawaii incidents may cause him personal trouble, they seem unlikely to affect the release of The Flash, which again, is still more than a year off. And it’s far too early to talk about a possible Flash sequel.
And while DC characters do make appearances in the DC Extended Universe, there aren’t any films in production where a Flash appearance would make sense. Black Adam comes out in October, and Shazam! Fury of the Gods in December, and neither will have any Flash appearance — not due to the incidents, but because it was never planned that way.
Miller played Credence Barebone/Aurelius Dumbledore in the second and third Fantastic Beasts movies. The third film, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, comes out on April 15 in the US (April 7 in Australia, April 8 in the UK). Miller plays a major role in that film. Two more films are coming in that series, but it seems unlikely Miller’s character would’ve been in them even if there wasn’t any incident.
Of course, all the headlines aren’t helping Miller’s career, but at least for now, it doesn’t seem like there are direct, reportable consequences for movie roles.