Ezra Miller’s secret role as Trashcan Man is revealed in first look images from The Stand. Amid a real global pandemic, Stephen King’s post-apocalyptic epic about a superflu devastating civilization is getting a new miniseries adaptation from CBS All Access (the book was first adapted as a miniseries back in 1994).
Of course the pandemic depicted in The Stand is only the beginning of the story, as the book really concerns the battle between good and evil factions of survivors that happens after society has already collapsed. The new adaptation casts Alexander Skarsgard as Randall Flagg, the mysterious dark figure who assembles his army of evil in the ruins of Las Vegas, and Whoopi Goldberg as the magical Mother Abagail. The cast also includes James Marsden, Amber Heard, Greg Kinnear, Odessa Young, Henry Zaga, Jovan Adepo, Owen Teague and Fiona Dourif.
Up till now The Stand has kept secret another big bit of casting, hiding the identity of the actor set to portray the key character of The Trashcan Man. Now it’s been revealed that Miller, who plays The Flash in the DCEU, is the one who portrays Randall Flagg’s explosive-loving schizophrenic minion. See first look images of Miller as Trashcan Man in the space below (via EW):
It was previously rumored that rock star Marilyn Manson was set to play Trashcan Man in the new adaptation of The Stand, but that turned out to be false. However, showrunner Benjamin Cavell reveals to EW that Manson was at one time considered to play another Stand character called The Kid, who was originally cut out of King’s novel only to be reinstated when the expanded edition was published in 1990. But it was ultimately decided that The Kid didn’t fit in the new miniseries version either. As for Miller’s casting as Trashcan Man, Cavell said the actor is actually a big fan of the book and was eyeing playing the role for a long time. Cavell says Miller spends his time in the show wearing nothing but tactical gear over underwear (he also sports some nasty scars as a result of his pyromania), and calls Miller’s performance “brilliant.” Miller himself says he worked closely with wardrobe in order to create Trashy’s look, quipping "'Fireproof underwear' were two of the first words out of my mouth in the first conceptual meeting.”
The crazed Trashcan Man is indeed one of the most memorable characters in King’s book, a chaos agent who may be called to Randall Flagg’s decadent New Vegas but is never fully under Flagg’s control (Trashy in reality only cares about blowing things up, which makes him useful but unpredictable as a soldier). Miller is definitely a surprising choice to play the insane Trashcan Man, but at the same time his energy does weirdly fit the character, and it sounds like he was all-in when it came to bringing Trashy to life. After playing a hero in the DCEU, Miller now gets a chance to play something much darker and more disturbing in The Stand, and it will be fascinating to see what he brings to the table when the show arrives on CBS All Access on December 17, 2020.
Source: EW