Ezra Miller Bio
Ezra Matthew Miller, born on September 30, 1992, in Wyckoff, New Jersey, is an American actor whose career spans independent drama, major studio franchises, and a leading role in one of the most prominent superhero film series of the twenty-first century. Miller first drew attention with their feature film debut in Afterschool (2008) and went on to gain wider recognition through the drama We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) and the coming-of-age film The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012). Across more than a decade of work, they have built a résumé that includes the Fantastic Beasts film series, a role in The Stand, and the title character in The Flash (2023).
Outside of film, Miller has also pursued music as part of the band Sons of an Illustrious Father, contributing vocals, drums, and percussion to the group’s recordings. Miller publicly identifies as nonbinary and uses they, them, it, and zir pronouns, becoming one of the first openly nonbinary actors to lead a major superhero franchise film. Their professional life has been accompanied by public attention to off-screen legal matters and personal disclosures that have shaped the wider conversation about their career.
Early Life and Background
Ezra Matthew Miller was born in Wyckoff, New Jersey, on September 30, 1992. They have two older sisters, Saiya and Caitlin. Their mother, Marta Miller, née Koch, worked as a modern dancer, and their father, Robert S. Miller, served as senior vice president and managing director of Hyperion Books before later becoming a publisher at Workman Publishing. Miller’s father is Jewish, and their mother is of Dutch and German descent. Miller has spoken about identifying as Jewish and as spiritual.
From a young age, Miller showed an interest in performance and music. At the age of six, they began training as an opera singer as a way to address a stutter, and they later performed with the Metropolitan Opera and took part in the American premiere of Philip Glass’s opera White Raven. This early immersion in classical music and stage performance helped shape their comfort in front of audiences and informed their later transition to film acting.
Miller attended Rockland Country Day School and The Hudson School. They left school at sixteen following the release of Afterschool and briefly enrolled at Bard College before choosing to leave higher education to pursue acting on a full-time basis. This decision marked the end of their formal education and the start of a professional career in film and television.
Path to Celebrity
Miller’s introduction to film came through the independent project Afterschool (2008), directed by Antonio Campos, in which they played a teenager at a boarding school who accidentally records the drug-related deaths of two classmates and is later asked to assemble a memorial video. The role established their screen presence and opened the door to further independent work, including City Island (2009) with Andy García, Julianna Margulies, and Steven Strait.
In 2010, Miller took the lead role in Beware the Gonzo and appeared in a supporting part in Every Day, both of which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. They followed these projects with the BBC Films drama We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011), directed by Lynne Ramsay and adapted from Lionel Shriver’s 2003 novel, in which Miller starred alongside Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly. On television, they appeared as Damien on the Showtime series Californication and played Tucker Bryant for two seasons on Royal Pains. These early credits positioned Miller as a distinctive young actor with a range that spanned brooding drama and lighter television work.
Ezra Miller Career
Early Career (2008–2014)
Miller’s first major film role came with Afterschool (2008), and they quickly followed it with supporting parts in City Island (2009) and the Tribeca Film Festival titles Beware the Gonzo and Every Day in 2010. The performance in We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) brought them wider critical notice, particularly for their work alongside Tilda Swinton. On television, they continued to build a steady presence through Californication and Royal Pains.
In 2012, Miller played Patrick in the film adaptation of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, starring alongside Logan Lerman and Emma Watson. The role cemented their reputation as a thoughtful, idiosyncratic actor comfortable in both independent and studio settings. Across these early years, they developed a track record of choosing varied projects, alternating between festival fare, art-house drama, and ensemble television.
Breakthrough (2015–2023)
Miller’s transition to broader commercial work began with a supporting role in the comedy Trainwreck (2015), directed by Judd Apatow and starring Amy Schumer. The film introduced them to wider audiences and preceded their casting as Credence Barebone in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016), a spin-off of the Harry Potter series. They reprised the role of Credence in the sequels Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022), making the character one of the recurring arcs of the Wizarding World films.
In parallel, Miller took on the role of Barry Allen, also known as the Flash, in Warner Bros.’ DC Extended Universe. After cameos in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad, they appeared as one of the leads in Justice League (2017) and reprised the role in the Arrowverse crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths in 2020. Their performance as the Flash was featured in the standalone film The Flash (2023), which made Miller the first openly nonbinary actor to play the lead role in a major superhero franchise film.
Beyond these major franchises, Miller portrayed Trashcan Man in the Paramount+ miniseries The Stand (2020), based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, and continued to record music with Sons of an Illustrious Father. In May 2025, it was reported that Miller would lead a vampire film in development, to be directed by Lynne Ramsay.
Notable Works and Milestones
Miller is most widely recognized for their portrayal of Barry Allen, the Flash, across the DC Extended Universe and for their performance as Credence Barebone in the three Fantastic Beasts films. Their early work in We Need to Talk About Kevin and The Perks of Being a Wallflower remains a touchstone of their career, marking the transition from independent film to major studio productions. Their casting in The Flash was also noted as a milestone for nonbinary representation in leading superhero film roles.
Ezra Miller Award Nominations
Across their career, Miller has received industry recognition for both independent and major studio work, with nominations reflecting performances in films such as We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and the Fantastic Beasts series. Specific nomination tallies and category details are not fully verifiable from available sources, so a complete summary is omitted to avoid inaccuracy.
Ezra Miller Awards Won
Specific award wins for Miller are not fully verifiable from the available sourced information, and detailed totals are therefore omitted to ensure accuracy.
Ezra Miller Family
Miller is the child of Robert S. Miller, a publishing executive who served as senior vice president and managing director of Hyperion Books and later worked at Workman Publishing, and Marta Miller, née Koch, a modern dancer. They have two older sisters, Saiya and Caitlin. Following their parents’ divorce in 2019, public reports and Miller’s own representatives have discussed the impact of that period on Miller’s well-being.
Personal Life
Miller has discussed their gender identity publicly, coming out as queer in 2012 and later explaining that they do not identify as a man or a woman. They use they, them, it, and zir pronouns, and have spoken about the importance of being referenced outside traditional gender categories. In 2018, they shared an account of an early experience in the entertainment industry that they described as inappropriate.
In their personal relationships, Miller briefly dated actress Zoë Kravitz in 2010 during the production of Beware the Gonzo. They later became engaged to a woman named Erin, whom they began dating in 2016, although the engagement was called off after a spiritual advisor described Erin as a parasite. In November 2018, Miller announced that they were in a polyamorous relationship that included members of their band Sons of an Illustrious Father. Reports beginning in 2022 have detailed legal issues and personal struggles that have been widely covered in the press.