25 Under 25: The Next Generation of TV, Music & Movies

10. Ezra Miller
Hometown: Wyckoff, New Jersey
Age: 20

His Resume So Far: It takes a lot of poise to act opposite Tilda Swinton and come off as her equal. Ezra Miller did just that with his chilling performance as a sociopathic teenager in We Need to Talk About Kevin. The folks at the Cannes Film Festival even awarded Miller with the not at all hyperbolic Chopard Trophy for Male Revelation of the Year.

What’s Next:
Miller’s next project will be starring across from Mia Wasikowska in a re-imagining of the classic French novel Madame Bovary. It’s the only movie he has lined up for 2013, but this young actor has star written all over him, and his fans love him enough to build countless animated gifs in his honor. We’re staking our claim now and expecting a monster 2014 from Miller.

Ezra Miller on his disinterest in Twitter and the long road of ‘Perks of Being a Wallflower’

In a perfect world Ezra Miller would be getting ready to attend the Academy Awards later this month.  The 20-year-old actor would be celebrating his first best supporting actor nomination for his role in Stephen Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being A Wallflower.”  Unfortunately, awards season is a far from perfect animal and Miller joins co-star Logan Lerman, Michael Pena (“End of Watch”) and Bruce Willis (“Moonrise Kingdom”) as actors who should have received more attention (thank god for the Independent Spirit Awards).  That fact will be increasingly apparent to moviegoers who catch up with “Perks” after its release on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download this week.

Adapted from his own novel, Chbosky’s “Perks” is the rare teenage drama that likely appeals more to adults than teenagers. While the film’s dramatic thrust is driven from the POV of freshman Charlie (Lerman), it’s the heartbreaking story lines of Patrick (Miller) and Sam (Emma Watson) that make “Perks” something special.  The movie was critically acclaimed, but Summit Entertainment struggled to find a wide audience outside the art house circuit as it grossed just $17.7 million in theaters.

The film did, however, put Miller on the preverbal map.  Miller received kudos for his role in “We Need To Talk About Kevin,” but his work in “Perks” was 180 degrees from the psychotic teenager in that little scene Tilda Swinton thriller. Miller has star-quality range and is someone movie fans should (hopefully) be hearing about for a long time to come.

Miller took some time to chat late last week about fans approaching him about landing the “Perks” role in a traditional casting call, dealing with new fans in the street and clarifying that no, he’s not on twitter.

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Q: I know it’s been a long road for you with ‘Perks’ but it’s funny, I’m finally hearing from a lot of friends who have seen it months after its release and love it.  Is it one of those movies where it feels like it’s following you as people keep discovering it?

Yeah, definitely.  I kind of feel like that might go on for a while.  You know what I mean?  Because it just like, in its release it wasn’t so like completely in everyone’s face as a film that they had to see [so] I think that there’s ample opportunity for a lot of people to keep discovering it.  And that’s actually very exciting because it means a long road of hearing various reactions and just like the infinite number of ways that this film affects the various people, in various ways and stirs up different thoughts and conversations.  So yeah, it has been a long road but I’m down for it to be an open road.

Q: Living in the New York area do a lot of people approach you in the street or, I know you’re on twitter, reach out to you about the movie? Do you have people who sort of surprise you with like how passionate they are once they’ve seen it?

Just to set the record straight, I am not on Twitter.

Q: Oh, I thought you were.

There are a couple human beings who pretend to be me on Twitter.  I actually haven’t read their Twitter feeds, but I’ve heard from other people that they exist and so I imagine that’s what you’re referring to?  I actually encourage it because I hate Twitter.  I don’t have the wherewithal to be a social networker and so if people want to pretend to be me and social network on my behalf, I’m all for it.

Q: O.K.  well that’s funny, because I think that at one point during the Toronto Film Festival someone had convinced a lot of people that this one account was actually you.  But beyond that, just in general, have you had people like come up to you in person about the movie and what’s that been like?

Yes, definitely.  You know, in New York it’s more casual and friendlier than anywhere else that I’ve experienced in the country or in the world.  So, if for some reason, someone recognizes me from the film often they’ll just do something as simple as like a thumbs up, you know what I mean?  Or they’ll come up and just say really quickly that they loved the film.  Or on certain occasions people are affected by this film in a way and there’s a lot all of a sudden that they what to say or express.  Or maybe something they want to share about their life that drew them closer to the story.  And I’m generally, unless I like – I really have to get somewhere and can’t talk, I’m usually, you know, down to hear whatever it might be.

Q: Are there any stories or just comments that’s sort of touched you that you just can think of offhand?

Yeah.  You know, the nostalgic ones are often the most personal.  People who come up who are in their ‘30s who will talk about how this movie actually takes place in the time that they were in high school and how it brings up all of these reminiscences just for them and sometimes people will open up about really personal.  There are some topics in the movie like molestation as a child and just various themes of those events being traumas in someone’s past they’ll be will be willing to talk about them.  So that’s kind of incredible.

Q: Yeah.  You’re definitely not getting the same reaction I’m guessing that from people who saw, ‘We Need To Talk About Kevin.’

It’s a little sweeter.

Q: It’s really good you did this movie to like make sure that people didn’t think you were crazy.  I mean, if this had been only you’re only film for a couple of years, it could’ve been a little tough for you at times socially.

Yeah. (Laughs).  I feel like in the last two, ‘Kevin’ and ‘Perks,’ kind of hold each other in happy harmony as the last two film I’ve made.  You know, it’s like it’s perfect.  It’s perfect.  If anyone thinks I am like just like a terrifying human being they can watch ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower,’ anyone thinks I’m like chews bubble gum and a [heartfelt] human being, they can watch ‘Kevin.’

Q: Exactly.

A nice equilibrium is drawn. {hitfix.com}

Interview: Ezra Miller on “Wallflower,” Tim Curry and the Power of Calling Himself “Queer”

Author Stephen Chbosky‘s The Perks of Being a Wallflower ranks among the most familiar and cherished books of Gen Y teenagerdom, that ubiquitous lime green book about high school friendship and self-discovery. Since Chbosky himself wrote and directed the recent film adaptation of Perks, which comes out on DVD today, it’s no surprise that the warmth and power of his epistolary novel truly comes to life on the big screen. What’s slightly more surprising is the utter precision of the casting: Logan Lerman is perfect as the conscientious, but troubled Charlie; Emma Watson is lovable as his new friend Sam; but best of all, Ezra Miller is wonderful as the funny, charismatic, and Dr. Frankenfurter-impersonating gay character Patrick.

Miller has been provocative on screen as the titular psychopathic teen of We Need to Talk About Kevin and as Ellen Barkln‘s son in Another Happy Day, but in Perks, he’s both cheeky and freewheeling as the wisecracking Patrick. You know this kid. He’s both gregarious and a burnout, and Miller plays him with what appears to be wonderful ease. In fact, he’s so good that I requested he play more gay characters in the very near future. So there.

We caught up with Miller to discuss his work in the movie, what surprised him about his costars, and the joys and comforts of identifying himself as “queer.”

AfterElton: Perks is such a good movie. I’ve seen it three times now. Has your perception of the movie changed since making it and its release?
Ezra Miller: I mean, I only saw it once. You’re actually two ahead of me. It fulfilled and then exceeded my expectations of what I thought this film could be to such a huge degree that there hasn’t really been an evolution or an arc of how I perceive the film. There’s been a really pleasant continuity, especially hearing people — especially kids — react to this film in a way that’s so reminiscent of how I reacted to the book when I was that age. It’s all been sort of on the same really wonderful heel. It hasn’t changed. My perception of what the story is and why the story, because it’s so personal and so intimate, is so universal and relatable, that’s still very true to me. With the film, with me being so attached to it — I mean, my face is in it — that’s been the only very minor alteration. I still feel the same about Stephen and the story as I did when I was 14.

AE: There’s never a point in this movie when I think, “Ezra Miller isn’t quite going for it.” Patrick is an ebullient character, and you really energize him. Was it also exhausting to play him?
EM: I think there is something a little challenging about playing someone who’s so constantly on, in the way you just described. That’s tricky. To play Patrick’s manic ability to be constantly the proverbial life of the party and then really only have that be a manic overextension at very certain points in the plot line where, for me, being that manically joyous and hilarious all the time would be a sign that something terrible is going to happen. You know what I mean? Like a crash is just around the corner? It was important that that actually only be at a couple specific points in the story arc, that we feel that. The rest of the time, it’s genuine, you know? He’s a genuine life force. It’s tricky to capture that when I might not be as constantly enthusiastic. [Laughs.]

AE: He’s a very physical character, much more so than your role in We Need to Talk About Kevin and presumably more than your upcoming role in the new adaptation of Madame Bovary. Was it a one-of-a-kind experience, being this physical on film?
EM: Actually, the physicality of a character is usually the first thing I think about. Even with Kevin, the creepy way he held his shoulders was kind of like a starting point for me. I find that finding the body of whoever this [role] is lends itself to all of the other parts of the sort-of deconstruction required to then reconstruct and play a character. Definitely in terms of the dancing and jumping around, I hope it’s not a one-of-a-kind experience for me! It’s a great deal of fun. I would love to be able to dance and jump around in some other film. But yeah, it was definitely a joy. He’s definitely the most physically buoyant I’ve ever played.

AE: Peter’s a big fan of Rocky Horror Picture Show. Do you have cult movie obsessions?
EM: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I have a bunch of those. In terms of cult films specifically, I’m a huge fan of  – I couldn’t act this movie out because it’s in Japanese — but the very epitomizingly cult film Suicide Club, which is actually about a cult. That’s one of my favorites. Rocky Horror Picture Show is one of my favorite cult films, just to be real. I saw that movie when I was way too young, and it scarred me in a very irrevocable, permanent way. It’s a scar I cherish, and one of I’ve been able to use to my advantage in my professional career and whatnot. I’m a huge Tim Curry fan all around. I really can’t speak highly enough of Mr. Curry. He’s a personal hero of mine.

AE: Hell yes. I’m a Clue man.
EM: Oh, yeah. Oh, I’ve seen Clue. Many times. That’s the thing, man. Tim Curry dominates. Tim Curry is the cult king, the cult leader. His booming voice, you know? Many follow it. He’s like the pied piper.

AE: When I read your interviews, you seem both… compulsively introverted and compulsively extroverted? You’re cerebral and articulate, but also super social and inquisitive.
EM: I strike you as being bipolar. [Laughs.] I can’t exactly express why I understand what you just said, but yeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe I’m extraverted but introspective? Maybe that’s the best way to put it. I would say you’ve gleaned some truth in that.

AE: So my question is: Do you relate to many people in the business?
EM: Well, particularly, I love the way that in this industry everybody kind of has their own style. There are no set rules, per se, of how you go about doing this. In the end, it’s just like this right now: two people having a conversation on the phone. I could f*cking say anything. I think a lot of actors become keenly aware of that, and the idiosyncrasies of how everybody gets the same job done are kind of what makes this whole crazy circus so endlessly entertaining.

AE: This movie brings a lot out of your fellow actors — plenty of emotional moments. Did your costars often surprise you with what they brought to the screen?
EM: Every day. I was stunned by the other cast members on this film every single day. I mean, not only just in the work that they were bringing to the table of the film, but then also discovering each of them as human beings. Finding out good Logan is at piano, or how truly Mae Whitman is the funniest living human being. These realizations. Finding out that Johnny Simmons is one of the most deep-thinking individuals I’ve ever met, it was constant surprises for me, from these kids. Everyone kind of surprised each other, and I think we still are, every time I see them. There’s a whole new side to these human beings. It just so happens that Steve chose these actors with incredible depth. He was really trying to find wonderful human beings to be a part of the story, and he did just that.

AE: Stephen Chbosky wrote the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower over a decade ago, and he directed you here. I assume his instructions for bringing Patrick to life were very specific.
EM: You know, I think Steve has known these characters for so long in his head. He had them in his head for years and years and years before we made this film. Usually the notes that came from him were more in the direction of the preservation of his vision of the character. Like, maybe I was doing something crazy and new to the character for him that wasn’t resonating as the character that he birthed. That was more the direction of how notes went on the days when we were making the film. “I think this is more Patrick, actually, if you could turn this down a little, or turn this up a bit.” It wasn’t so much wild experimentation, because why wildly experiment such an already wild and surprising and exciting character?

AE: You routinely refer to yourself as “queer,” which I love. It’s an old word, but it’s kind of a new form of self-identification.
EM: It’s true! And it’s a different form of LGBT culture for sure. It’s even almost defiant of each of those letters. It’s kind of wonderfully all-encompassing. I’m all about it. I’m all about that word. I think it’s incredibly useful just as we head into an era of a more indiscriminate and open spectrum of human gender and sexuality. I think it’s good for us to have a word that isn’t so ultimately definitive, that leaves room for people to always be discovering and exploring who they are as a loving being.

AE: It’s defiant of that expectation to narrowly self-assign, I think, but it still aligns you in camaraderie with everything “LGBT.”

EM: Well, right. It’s funny how quickly so many heteronormative standards have crept their way into conventional gay culture. I think already even though we’ve done an incredibly productive cycle of opening up gaps in human rights in this particular area, I think there’s a whole new recycle that has to take place. {afterelton.com}

Ezra Miller on Madame Bovary, Beauty’s Privilege (and Peril) and Being Gay-bashed Twice

When the opportunity to interview Ezra Miller came up for the Feb. 12 DVD release of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I immediately said yes. As would have anyone who saw Miller co-star with Tilda Swinton in Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to Talk About Kevin, a film about a boy (Kevin) who perpetrates a school massacre. Former LAPD cop, Christopher Dorner, was hunting former officers when I spoke from Los Angeles with Miller about violence in America and gun control, topics that our country’s still grappling with less than two months after Adam Lanza’s killing spree.

A former opera singer (he performed as a child with the New York City Opera), Miller delivers on the oft-used promise of “exciting new talent,” seemingly cut from the same cloth as a new crop of female singers (Grimes, Sky Ferreira, Azealia Banks) who emerged in the last year. Featured in the Vanity Fair‘s current Hollywood issue, Miller talked about his upcoming role (co-starring with Mia Wasikowska) in Sophie Barthes’ Madame Bovary, the perils and privileges of being labeled beautiful, and being gay-bashed — twice.

Tomas Mournian: Have you ever been assaulted, verbally, or physically, for looking or being perceived as gay?

Ezra Miller: Yeah. Definitely a couple times. One time I was at a show in New York City for a hardcore band. I was wearing a velvet green jacket, and I was doing sort of a swing step, kind of Lindy-hopping in the mosh pit. Then I walked out of the mosh pit, and I was standing in the back of the crowd, someone tapped me on the shoulder, and all I heard was the word, “Faggot.” I got punched in the eye.

The face is designed to protect the eyeball but this dude managed to punch at a particular angle. I had a bunch of tears in my retina. It was very confusing. All of a sudden, my eye was bleeding, I couldn’t see where the guy had gone, and I never really knew who it was.

Mournian: What happened the second time?

Miller: I wore this faux fur leopard print jacket for a while. I really liked it. I was in Hoboken, N.J., where my parents live. There was a Giants game going on so bros were about, and on the prowl.

A guy grabbed me by the jacket and was like, “What the fuck is with this jacket?” And I was like, “It’s a jacket that I’m wearing.” And he’s like, “Who are these fuckin’ people you’re with?” And I was like, “That’s my mother. And we’re just going to get some dinner. Would you please let go of me?” He went, “What?! My mother!? My mother?!” He sort of let go of me, and I was like, “Look man, you’re confused, and I’m sorry, I’m leaving.”

Mournian: Maybe it was the leopard print.

Miller: He went pussy. And I was like, that guy just spat out the most non-sensical of masculine, gay-bashing skewers. He didn’t even know what angle to take. He tried the mother angle, he tried the pussy angle, the what-is-with-this-jacket angle. The first guy was a more self-assured, confident gay-basher. That second guy needed to sober up, figure out his hate crime a little more.

Mournian: Right now, there are all these leading men: James Franco in the Cruising project, Matthew McConaughey in The Paperboy, Matt Damon & Michael Douglas in Liberace — guy-guys who are driving projects that would have been unthinkable even five years ago. Why do you think now, at this moment, straight identified actors are so eager to play gay?

Miller: I think it’s that all of a sudden the flood gates are open to wonderful, well-written gay characters. These roles are good. No longer is there this long-standing, unspoken reality that playing gay somehow involves the defamation of an actor, or the ruin of a career. A space opened up. Once the space opened up, the roles started gaining depth. No longer are gay roles just victims, or tokenization, but real, wonderful characters.

Mournian: In the upcoming Madame Bovary (with Mia Wasikowska) you’re playing Leon. How did that come about?

Miller: I’ve had a love affair with Madame Bovary — is a weird thing to say — simply because the book is such an expository to the falsehoods of love affairs. I loved that book for a long time, and it really came from me getting the woman who is directing that film, Sophie Barthes, and seeing that she had a visionary handle on this project.

Mournian: How will this Madame Bovary be different from the other sixteen film adaptations?

Miller: This one is going to be real, it’s going to hit the pulse of that book which is going to be something extremely dark, and tragic, and sexy. And beautiful, all at the same time. I’m very much excited about Sophie’s vision of a story that I’ve loved for a while.

Mournian: In The Perks of Being a Wallflower, it’s interesting how, in contrast with Kevin being intertwined with his mother, Patrick’s social relationships are all with his peers.

Miller: Yeah, I think Patrick is very much a peer-powered individual. He both derives his strength as a human being from the people in his life to sort of pull him through. He has that sort of combined relationship of given family, and chosen family in his stepsister — who I think he’s really chosen to regard as his sister. And it’s implied, in the book, that Patrick has a good relationship with his father, and his stepmother, Sam’s mother. The entirety of the book and the film, all exists within the world of the peers. The parents could almost be headless. Like whatever cartoon that was.

Mournian: You’ve played a lot of teenagers but Patrick was different.

Miller: It was an important thing for me (as an artist) to play that kind of social dynamic of a teenager because I had played a lot of that first circle of the home life. And to play the broader circle of the social environment. I think it’s a whole different ball game for a kid that age.

Mournian: How did you hear about The Perks of Being a Wallflower as a project?

Miller: When I first heard about Perks of Being a Wallflower, it was not through a friend of mine, necessarily, free-willingly give me the script, but I was staying on a friend’s couch, and was creepily, sneakily looking at it in his stack of scripts. Just to see if anything had fallen through my crack.

Mournian: You were immediately interested.

Miller: I was initially not into the idea of a film adaptation of Perks of Being a Wallflower at all. Just sort of seeing it written on the side of the script, and then got the script through my agent, and saw on email that I received it in, that it was written by Stephen Chbosky [the novel's author] and that he was going to direct it.

Mournian: Do you get scripts from other young actors?

Miller: I feel like there’s more and more a savvy, youth actor culture who are looking to get things made, looking to move their own weight more than has been traditional for people of this age. Emma [Watson] is a glowing example. Now she knows how to move things into place, and how to make good projects happen, not only for her but for all of us. We will get to see all these awesome projects that she’s sort of shoving into existence.

Mournian: Because it was a period setting, all the relationships were in the world i.e., not conducted by cell phones, or texts. Kristen Stewart said something interesting in an On the Road interview, and it was about how much she yearned for a world without cell phones. Philosophically, what side of the digital divide do you stand on?

Miller: I’ve been trying to encourage myself to be more willing. Because my resistance towards cell phones — which I definitely have, a great resistance towards cell phones — it becomes a problem. At this point, no matter where you side of that digital divide you are entrapped by it. Because there’s a level of expectation of the availability of communication that we just can’t go back on. There’s no reverse button. Even though I don’t like cell phones, I wish there could be spaces and gaps of time where people were excusably missing from the cyber net.

Mournian: Can you see a way out?

Miller: I really don’t think there’s a way out. My voice mail is literally begging people not to be angered that I’m within immediate cell phone communication. Even I get upset. Sometimes I won’t be able to get in touch with someone, and I’ll be like, “What the hell.” We’re done for.

Mournian: Yet what Kristen Stewart said really spoke to me, and I assume other closet Luddites.

Miller: We can yearn for that lost time, and romanticize it, but we’re going to have to figure out … hopefully, we can overcome the initial fanaticism. We’re still in the crazy, early stages of digital communication. Hopefully, we can relax a little bit into it as a pervasive reality. Right now, it’s still — it’s gone from being the new toy to the security blanket.

Mournian: Given the recent events in Newtown, Conn., I’m really curious how having played that role [in the movie, We Need to Talk about Kevin] do you look at those events?

Miller: I think that definitely playing that role, that’s something that will always be brought up when these tragedies occur. I always think about the under-exploration of the human dynamic. And I generally watch media sensationalize these events, and usually somehow turn the story into one note ideas. Basically, a singular topic that becomes the reason or the excuse.

Mournian: Or, mental illness.

Miller: A vague idea of mental illness. Or, something about this one incident in this person’s life that we can look at, and pick apart. Or, it’s the video game they played. There’s something about the American psychological condition that’s much more to blame, and at fault. I think we should try to proceed into that discussion with a little bit more willingness to delve into expansive gray areas. Which is hard in the wake of tragedy.

Mournian: The article always begins the same way–

Miller: “It began in a small town where nobody would have expected in this tiny suburban haven that someone would do something so awful.” I wonder when the moment comes that they realize they’ve been saying that same line for like twelve years. Because this is where it happens: It happens in suburbia, it happens in environments where kids might be getting the superficial things they need. Like the artifice of what they’re supposed to need, but there’s a lot of emotional deprivation. There’s a lot of stuff that gets buried and pushed under the rug.

Mournian: What’s your stance on gun control?

Miller: Obviously, I think there’s no harm in making the size of a gun’s magazine a little smaller, or putting a safety on the goddamn thing, or making sure people have to register to get guns. I think all of that is almost painfully obvious. It’s bizarre to me that there are people who think that those ideas are restrictive, or somehow how… part of some overarching, governmental conspiracy. I’ve been hearing all sorts of shit.

Mournian: You’re featured in Vanity Fair’s Hollywood issue which revolves around beauty, youth, & fame. Are you aware of the privilege that physical beauty affords you?

Miller: That is a really heavy question. Yes. I think it’s a strange reality, but it’s the world we live in. I think it’s probably going to be one of the last… it’s a final frontier. We’re changing all these modes of discrimination in our industry but there’s still one, out-standing mode of discrimination. Which is that so much of this work, and so much of this industry is based on the way people look. Which will never be the end-all, be-all, determining factor about human character. Even though we still seem to perceive it that way. That good-looking people are somehow superior. Which I think is quite foolish.

It’s kind of like any of the privileges that I find myself at the center of — white privilege, or the privilege of being free of poverty. Any of these privileges, I think it’s essential to acknowledge them, and acknowledge all of the opportunities and imbalances that end up tipping in your favor. But then I think it’s most important to try and address where the roots of these privileges and inequalities come from.

Mournian: Do you feel the beauty label is a trap?

Miller: I think everybody within this industry who’s labeled as beautiful feels the tyranny of beauty. That is a standard that’s set for them, a pedestal that they can only tumble from. I also think it ultimately creates a lot of self-loathing, and self-doubt for people who are labelled beautiful, or ugly. In the end, it’s not actually helpful for anyone — the labeling and rating systems we’ve established for ourselves.

Mournian: Do you think you’ll live a full life cycle, or will it be preempted by melting glaciers and rising oceans?

Miller: I am not so certain either way. I think there are a lot factors in human history that are reaching pinnacle turning points. There’s an exponential climb that our whole species has been on that’s definitely reaching a crucial juncture. I don’t completely — I don’t take any of society’s current mode of high frequency operations for granted. I definitely don’t count on a full life cycle for many reasons, glaciers being one of them.

Ezra Miller Talks Queer Love, Rocky Horror, and a Perks Reunion

Having breakout roles in indie darlings such as We Need to Talk About Kevin and The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Ezra Miller is at the forefront of a new generation of young Hollywood.

His most recent film, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, was released on DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, and PPV on Tuesday, and it centers around a freshman named Charlie (Logan Lerman), a beautiful, free-spirited girl he’s in love with (Emma Watson as Sam), and Miller as her fearless stepbrother, Patrick. We got the much-buzzed-about actor to talk about the film, his “heavy meadow” band, being queer, and that “very tricky and beautiful thing” called love.

The Advocate: So you’re in New York right now?
Ezra Miller: Yeah, I’m here playing a bunch of shows with my band, Sons of an Illustrious Father.
How would you describe your band’s music?
We started out writing folk and Americana, but lately it’s been more electronic, so now we are under the made-up genre title of “heavy meadow.” It’s the metallic variety of folk music. I play the drums, sing mostly, and play some keys … hitting things is probably how I would describe my role in the band.So you’ve said that Perks has had a bizarre correlation with your life. Tell me about that.

I would say almost borderline metaphysical. I was given this book when I was Charlie’s age, by two older friends of mine that were incredibly helpful — the most wonderful people who got me through that time. Coming to be exactly their age four years later, get this script, then being able to play Patrick in the film, it’s almost this strange endless loop.

Last year you came out as queer. Why did you choose to identify yourself that way when most celebrities, when they come out, come out as gay? Do you feel it’s generational?It’s generational in the way that that term is newly available in a certain way. I think it feels the most open and inclusive and that’s what makes it apply for me, personally. I think there are a lot of people who fall on this open spectrum of sexuality. My friends and I use that word as an all-encompassing banner and for every human being. There should be an ongoing question and investigation of who you love and everything that’s involved with that very tricky and beautiful thing.

There’s a great Rocky Horror scene in the movie. Were you a fan of the Tim Curry film before you shot Perks?
Huge fan of the movie. I’ve been to a few of the shows before and always held great admiration for what goes on there. It was a wonderful honor to be able to step into those large high-heeled shoes. That was one of the highlights of this whole experience.

Have you kept in touch with cast?Yes, very much so. The whole group from that film, will be a group of friends in my life forever. I think we’ll be having a class of 1992 high school reunion 20 years down the line, even though I was born in 1992 [laughs]. {advocate.com}

The Virtuosic Heights of Ezra Miller and Company

Here’s the thing: I love “Perks of Being a Wallflower.” It is a great movie. It is poignant and funny and delves into how teenagers think and act and deal. Patrick, played by Ezra Miller, is clearly the most fun person in the world (fellow “Perks”-fan girls know what I’m talking about) … so when I got offered the chance to cover the SBIFF Virtuoso Awards on Jan. 29, I was more than down, seeing as Miller was one of the six awardees.

And guess what? Ezra Miller is even funnier and more delightful in person! I didn’t even know that was possible.

Here’s a synopsis of our 5 minutes of blissful chatter:

Audrey Bachelder: (totally freaking out, that is EZRA MILLER RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME) Hello Ezra.

Ezra Miller: (totally composed and confident, super suave) Hello there. Where are you from?

AB: (still freaking out, reminding myself to relax, be a professional c’mon Audrey) I’m a reporter for UCSB.

EM: Oooh that sounds like a fun place.

AB: (HE THINKS MY PLACE IS FUN!) It is! I love it. I’m studying unofficial journalism.

EM: Woah. Unofficial journalism? What does that mean?

AB: Well, we don’t have journalism at Santa Barbara, so —

EM: So you’ve carved out your own major? Nice. That shows good motivation!

AB: (severely blushing, getting real red) Thank you! So I just want to say that I loved the movie so much … and Patrick was the funnest, most spontaneous person, like you just want to be his best friend—

EM: Oh I do! I want to be his best friend.

AB: (me too! I want to be his best friend. Or yours …) In the movie everything about Patrick seems so authentic, does your real personality match up with Patrick’s or what were you like in high school?

EM: I was definitely trying to rebel to make it bearable for me and we have that commonality, but Patrick is like a social superhero, and I was never on that level of being such an inspiring kid. [The kind] who inspire you to break the wrong rules. I think Patrick has a leg up on me.

AB: (awestruck, what a great answer, he used commonality, what a great word) So you weren’t a rule breaker in high school?

EM: Oh no! I was certainly a rule breaker but it wasn’t righteous and justified. Like I cut class because I was lazy … nothing as heroic as standing up for the younger kid who’s getting bullied by the teacher, ya know.

AB: Absolutely … can I ask you a random question? Like what is your favorite color?

EM: Aha! My favorite color is the place where red and black meet. I guess that’s two colors. Is that cheating?

AB: Yes.

EM: Okay well then if I had to choose it’d be red. But there’s something so aesthetically pleasing to me about red and black together …

AB: (Now we are taking a picture together.)

AB: (My favorite color is red, too.)

AB: (We should probably be best friends now.)

Needless to say, my Virtuoso Awards experience was off to a jumpy start. I froze my butt off outside the Arlington Theater and felt the severe repercussions of drinking coffee right before interviewing famous people who you are enthralled with.

My jitters kept going right through all of the onstage interviews and peaked when I realized that directly to my right was the one and only Christopher Walken. He was texting on his phone throughout the whole show and I debated on whether or not I would pass him a note asking “Do you need more cowbell?” for a solid hour but then chickened out when he started noticing me sneaking peeks at him. I really wanted to snap a picture to send to my dad but I figured it’d be awkward to shove a camera in his face when he was mid-text. I did, however, get a picture of him taking a picture of the Virtuosos holding their awards, so that’s something.

So let’s get back to the actual award ceremony. The six SBIFF Virtuosos of 2013 are Ann Dowd, Elle Fanning, Ezra Miller, Eddie Redmayne, Omar Sy and Quvenzhane Wallis. I can honestly say that they were some of the most down-to-earth actors and actresses that could have been compiled onto the Arlington stage.

Ann Dowd was funny, telling the audience that “Compliance” — a thriller based on a real life case of a prank caller who convinced a McDonald’s manager to strip search her employee — is most definitely not a date movie. Dowd explained that the emotional and mental manipulation it explores made her reevaluate things in her own life.

Elle Fanning, though quite young, was scarily mature, which was reflective of her character in the movie “Ginger and Rosa,” who has to deal with the fact that her best friend is sleeping with her father. She was 12 when she auditioned for the part of Ginger and loved the fact that her hair was dyed red for the part.

Ezra Miller was entertaining as anything. He spoke about how his “Rocky Horror” scene in “Perks of Being a Wallflower” allowed him to unleash the monster within himself. Ever since his older sister — who is terrified of intensity and hasn’t seen any of his previous movies — accidentally played the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” while babysitting, he has sneakily watched it whenever parents aren’t looking.

Eddie Redmayne was very composed and talked about how his audition for “Les Misérables” was the equivalent to a horrible American Idol style nightmare. Redmayne does not have freckles in real life and is so undeniably British that he would randomly insert “Oh, buggart!” into his speech. He also discussed how in order to make each song its own opera he would swing from lampposts and give it his all. Swoon.

Omar Sy of “The Intouchables” explained in his beautiful French accent that he never went to acting school; he just took life school. When asked if he would ever consider doing an American role, he said, “Maybe. But I’d have to work on my English!”

Quvenzhane Wallis was hilarious. She came up to the stage in a purple dress and a fluffy pink poodle purse and explained that she had just wanted to try acting when she tried out for “Beasts of the Southern Wild.” At nine years old, she is the youngest ever Oscar-nominated Best Actress. She said that she would love to be her character Hush Puppy in real life, but she would appreciate it if Hush Puppy wore pants more often.

At the end of what was a truly charming Awards show, all six Virtuosos were brought back onstage and stayed a couple of extra minutes for fans to take pictures. Christopher Walken was among the fans. My jittery, coffee-crazed, electrifyingly cold first SBIFF award experience was a definite perk to my week and I highly recommend the awards for anyone who wants to experience an Oscars-like night of splendor right here in Santa Barbara.

Now go watch “Compliance,” “Ginger and Rosa,” “Perks of Being a Wallflower,” “Les Misérables,” “The Intouchables” and “Beasts of the Southern Wild” and catch this year’s virtuosos in action.