Despite whatever has been happening in the personal life of Ezra Miller, director Mary Harron was left stunned by the work they had put in on the upcoming movie Dalíland. Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Dalíland serves as a biopic of late artist Salvador Dalí. Miller plays a younger version of Dalí, though the film primarily follows Sir Ben Kingsley as the older Dalí.
Harron, who directed the feature film using a screenplay by John C. Walsh, spoke about Miller's involvement in a TIFF interview with Deadline. Though the project took several years to get finished, Harron noted how Miller stayed committed to Dalíland all throughout the process. When it finally came to shoot, Miller was able to work in some time to work on the feature while in between shooting Fantastic Beasts and The Flash. Harron also praised Miller for taking a very serious approach to their preparation for the role, doing the research required to arrive completely prepared when it came time to start filming. Miller even insisted that their lines be done in French as needed.
“We had an exchange of emails, I said, look at this book, read these books, there are some documentaries,” Harron explained. "[They] arrived on set to my amazement with a complete worked-out performance.
The director, whose other films include American Psycho and The Notorious Bettie Page, added that Miller is “one of the greatest actors I worked with” and will hopefully “get the help” needed for their recent mental health struggles.
Ezra Miller's Scenes Getting Cut Was Never a Consideration
In a previous interview with Vanity Fair, Mary Harron made it clear that Ezra Miller's scenes would not be cut from Dalíland despite the problematic headlines about the actor that have been hitting the press over the past year. While Harron does not condone any of Miller's alleged behavior, the filmmaker said that it was never a consideration to cut their scenes from the film. Miller had been very professional when it came to working on the movie, and by the time they were surrounded by controversy, Dalíland was all locked and ready to go.
“The film was completely finished and wrapped," Harron said. "It might have been different, especially if we were shooting, if there had been bad behavior during that. But this all happened after the film was not only filmed, but edited and mixed and done. I also felt like everybody shot all those things in good faith. Nothing bad happened during our filming, and the film is the film.”
Harron added, "They turned in a completely realized performance. They were very professional and nice to everybody. There was no trouble or a sign of trouble on set. So it was very upsetting and terrible to read what happened later. Reading this stuff was very sad—very sad for everybody involved. Hopefully they are getting help for what sounds like a very, very serious break.”
Dalíland will have its world premiere at TIFF. A wide release date has yet to be announced.