Known for playing tormented youngsters, Ezra Miller discussed his latest, most challenging role as a murderous teenager in "We Need To Talk About Kevin" (2011).
Tufts Daily: What was the audition process like for you?
EZRA MILLER: This was a long, arduous audition process. I first went in two years before we made this [movie]. I was really invested in this project from the beginning. The second I read the script, I wanted it very badly! Then, when I got a callback to meet with Lynne [Ramsay, the director,] it was very exciting. I met with Lynne and it went really well. And then I was primed for a "yes" or a "no," which is the exciting and nerve-wracking part. I stood on the edge of that cliff for a little while.
A few months went by, and "Kevin" sort of disappeared, which was incredibly stressing. The financial crisis came, and a lot of films lost momentum. Then, a year later, it just reappeared to my great jubilation. I then auditioned for Lynne again and then there was a chemistry read with Tilda [Swinton], so that constituted a fifth audition. It seemed like the chemistry reading with Tilda would have been the last audition, but then I got a call from Lynne and she needed to see one more thing. I think it was important for her to see the dualistic aspects that come into play regarding the nature of this character. Another two weeks wait and she offered me the role. I feel very lucky that it worked out and also that my nervous system survived that auditioning process. It almost drove me to madness, but then it all worked out for the best.
TD: How did you find this character?
EM: For me — although when I initially read the script, sociopathic behavior is written all over this kid — the more I considered it and the more I personally delved into an understanding of his head, the more I came to think he was not a sociopath. He is someone who, over the course of his life, responds to circumstance. As a coping or defense mechanism, he let his intelligence and his penetrating wit dominate the empathetic aspect of his brain. Particularly, in adolescence, this pressing need for authenticity in various aspects of his life rises to the surface, and he is determined to dispel the superficial, trivial goings-on in his family. This need to find some real, honest truth in the connection between him and his mother — that particular longing was important for me.
TD: Did you connect with Kevin in any way?
EM: Yeah, I think that's what was so intriguing. This person fits into the brand or category of "those we don't understand," but [he] struck me as being so understandable. Someone who has basic deprivations in his early life, who is hyperaware and who found his own tools in terms of exposing the harsher realities of his situation. He simultaneously struck me as someone who was a challenge to understand and was very understandable. That was the intrigue.
TD: Was it psychologically draining to play this role every single day, or were you able to remove yourself?
EM: Draining is the word. It certainly would leave me, day after day, feeling caught up in the emotional state of the character. And, when I would finally have a moment to let go, I realized how very fatigued my body was and how badly some part of me was hoping to get back to an apathetic form of existence. It's amazing to discover your own endless resource of horribleness. It cannot be exhausted. It renews itself. For this project, my horrible parts were ready, willing and able. It didn't entirely hit me how draining the experience had been until the film was about a week over.
TD: What was it like for you to work with Tilda?
EM: That's the question I'm asked most and it's the hardest to eloquently answer because she is someone who very much defies explanation. What truly can be said is that she is one of the most brilliant artists of our time and it was an unbelievably awe-inspiring and beautiful learning experience for me to even be near her as a human being, let alone work with her. Tilda has the strongest internal compass of any artist I've ever known. It's like gravity pulls every aspect of her being into the orbit of every moment of a scene. To be involved in a scene with her makes the process of acting, as it should always be, the easiest thing in the world. All that becomes hard is dealing with the true emotions of the characters in these relationships. By her grace, you glide from beat to beat, remaining present because she brings you there. It was amazing to the point that I have trouble describing it. I can only be incredibly grateful for every second of it.
