Young Ezra Miller terrified audiences last year with work in Lynne Ramsay’s nightmare factory of a film, We Need to Talk About Kevin, but the rising star doesn’t appear interested in getting stuck in similar (horrifying, revolting, and very difficult) roles. Variety reports that the actor has signed on for a role in Sophie Barthes‘s Madame Bovary, already set to star Jane Eyre‘s Mia Wasikowska in the title role and Paul Giamatti as Monsieur Homais.
The outlet does not specifically name his role, just that he will be a “love interest” for Wasikowska, but Cinema Blend points out that Miller is better suited for Leon Dupuis, one of the first men who tempts Emma, but not the man she eventually engages in a passionate and destructive affair (that would be Rodolphe Boulanger). Written by Rose Barrenche from Gustave Flaubert‘s novel, Barthes plans to start filming this fall. While I’m not particularly sold on yet another take on Bovary, Barthes is lining up an impressive and varied cast, which could recommend this new version of the classic story.
The film is also an interesting departure for Miller, who is best known for his staggering work in Kevin (seriously, we need to talk about him, I think he’s trying to eat my soul) and, to a lesser extent, his debut film, the also unsettling Afterschool. But while another actor might have gotten pigeon-holed post-Kevin, Miller’s first job after Lynne Ramsay’s film is not only a smaller role, but it’s one that’s very, very different from Kevin. He’ll co-star in Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower (which the writer and director adapted from his own YA novel) as Patrick, a sensitive older student who takes Logan Lerman’s Charlie under his wing.
Paired with this casting news, it looks like Miller is intent on varying his work and mixing up his resume, a heartening endeavor for an emerging actor of his caliber.