For better or worse, Hollywood allows stars several lifecycles. From career comebacks to reputation revivals, anything is possible in the world of the rich and famous if you play your cards right. After a three-year hiatus from fame, Ezra Miller is making a ‘tentative’ comeback.

After propelling to fame in the 2012 cult film The Perks of Being a Wallflower opposite Emma Watson and Logan Lerman, Miller’s public image was swiftly thrown into question. They were involved in several legally contentious scandals during the formative years of their career, many of which made their way into the headlines.

It began in 2011 when Miller was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana during a traffic stop. However, the charges were later dismissed, and Miller was issued two disorderly conduct citations. However, things took a dark turn almost a decade later. In 2022, a video of Miller seeming to choke a woman at a bar in Iceland started circulating on social media. Variety later heard from sources that the incident looked like a ‘serious altercation at the bar’. One of the women later told Variety, ‘I think, “It’s just fun and games” but then it wasn’t. All of a sudden, [they’re] on top of me, choking me, still screaming in my face if I want to fight.’

This was a year Miller’s name was constantly in the headlines. In March, Hawaii police alleged the actor got ‘agitated’ by people singing karaoke at a bar and began ‘yelling obscenities’ before getting on stage and grabbing the microphone. At another point, they allegedly ‘lunged’ at someone playing darts. Miller was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and harassment as well as a traffic-obstruction related complaint. A Hawaii judge dismissed both counts.

A month later in April, Miller was arrested again. This time for second-degree assault for allegedly assaulting a woman at a party in Puna, Hawaii. The local police department released a statement at the time: ‘During the course of their investigation, police determined that the individual, later identified as Ezra Miller, became irate after being asked to leave and reportedly threw a chair, striking a 26-year-old female on the forehead, resulting in an approximate half-inch cut.’ The resolution of the case was not made public.

Another woman also told Variety that the actor harassed her and ‘seemingly’ attempted to break down her apartment door in Berlin. ‘I did not feel safe,’ she told the publication. She claimed Miller called her a ‘Nazi’ and a ‘transphobic piece of shit’ and left after she called the police. Miller declined to comment on the allegations published by Variety.

Then in August 2022, Miller was accused of robbing a home in Vermont and stealing ‘several bottles of alcohol’, according to the Vermont State Police. They were charged with ‘the offense of felony burglary into an unoccupied dwelling’. In October, the actor pleaded not guilty to one felony count of burglary and a second minor charge of petit larceny. By January 2023, the actor changed their plea to a lesser charge of misdemeanour unlawful trespass. The other charges were dismissed. Miller was sentenced to one year’s probation, which included mental health treatment and random alcohol screenings.

However, Miller was not out of the woods yet. They also faced a restraining order from two people they had allegedly harassed and threatened. The court document states Miller ‘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 couple dismissed the lawsuit two weeks later.

The actor was also accused of grooming a child in 2022. According to the parents, who filed the charges, Miller met the child at Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota in 2016. Her parents claimed Miller was manipulating and controlling the girl since she was 12 years old. They alleged Miller exhibited a ‘pattern of corrupting a minor’ and allegedly displayed ‘cult-like and psychologically manipulative, controlling behaviour’. The child later issued a statement to say Miller ‘has only provided loving support and invaluable protection’. In 2024, the parents withdrew the complaint.

This was not the only troubling scandal of that nature, though. In June 2022, a mother and 12-year-old daughter were granted a temporary harassment prevention order against Miller after claiming the actor ‘menaced their family one evening in their downstairs neighbour’s home and acted inappropriately toward’ the child.

Finally, in August 2022, the actor responded to the mounting controversies and allegations with a statement: ‘Having recently gone through a time of intense crisis, I now understand that I am suffering complex mental health issues and have begun ongoing treatment. I want to apologise to everyone that I have alarmed and upset with my past behaviour. I am committed to doing the necessary work to get back to a healthy, safe and productive stage in my life.’

All of which cast a shadow over the press run of the June 2023 sci-fi film, The Flash. Nevertheless, Miller walked the red carpet at the premiere. They later thanked the film’s executives for ‘your grace and discernment and care in the context of my life’. What followed was a hiatus where the actor avoided public life and took steps to ameliorate their mental health.

Miller made a bold but cautious return at the Cannes Film Festival in May and the Filming Italy Sardegna Festival in June to support the director Lynne Ramsay on her film, Die My Love, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson. In May, Ramsay confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that Miller will star as the lead in her next film. She revealed it’s a ‘vampire movie’, adding, ‘I can’t tell you much. It’s with Ezra Miller who was in [We Need to Talk About] Kevin. He’s the main character. That’s in development.’

Speaking to Lo Speciale Giornale, Miller explained they were returning to acting ‘on tentative grounds. ‘I’m working with [Ramsay] again, that will likely be the first thing I do,’ they said. ‘It’s a film that her and I are writing together. And I came to Cannes because she asked me to come, and if there’s anything I really still believe in my life, it’s devotion to one’s people, one’s loved ones, above all else.’

However, the actor added, ‘I didn’t necessarily want to go to Cannes, I had a bit of a hard time. That’s a tough re-entry point. If you’ve been in the woods for three years, I do not recommend going straight to Cannes. But yeah, I did that for Lynne. I would do anything for Lynne.’

As for Miller’s hiatus, they said they’ve spent the past few years writing in solitude and reflecting on the ‘lessons’ of the past few years. ‘When you work in this industry, you’ll find yourself in deep, deep relation with a lot of people who do not give a single f*** about you, or your wellbeing, at all.’ They continued, ‘Not that I don’t hold a lot of remorse and lamentation for a lot of things that I did, and for a lot of things that happened in that time, I’m really, really grateful for the lessons that came with that abyss.’