Posted 5/19/11 6:36 pm ET by Amy Wilkinson

In the Cannes Film Festival entry “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” Ezra Miller plays a teen who goes on a murderous rampage through his high school. It’s a gritty, dark role—one of a couple Ezra has taken on of late. But now the up-and-coming actor is ready to cleanse his palate with something a bit lighter, yet still brimming with teen angst: the film adaptation of Stephen Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.”

Summit Entertainment confirmed to Hollywood Crush that Ezra will play Patrick, the brother of Emma Watson‘s Sam and friend of Logan Lerman‘s Charlie. We spoke briefly with Ezra about the film at Cannes, and he could hardly contain his excitement over the plum part, which he’ll begin filming very shortly in Pittsburgh.

“It’s fantastic,” he said with a grin. “And that is certainly—the role is such a fun one. He’s such a mischievous—and this gay boy, who’s full of pride and full of humor and wit and just confidence. And it is—it’s just largely a comedic role but with real actual heart. There’s a lot of levity, which will be a nice break from the last two.”

 

With an all-star cast that also includes Nina Dobrev, Kate Walsh, Dylan McDermott and Paul Rudd, this film is shaping up to be one of our most anticipated adaptations of 2012.