Ezra Miller Reflects on THAT Ending
SPOILERS AHEAD: PROCEED WITH CAUTION
We’re still trying to wrap our heads around the revelation that the Obscurial formerly known as Credence is apparently Aurelius Dumbledore, implied to be a previously unknown brother of Albus. In two new interviews released today, Ezra Miller shares his thoughts on that twist ending – including how he found out Credence’s true identity and where he thinks his character is headed next.
In an interview with IGN, Ezra reveals that his reaction to learning about Aurelius was just as drastic as ours – especially because, thanks to a miscommunication with producer David Heyman, Miller initially believed Credence’s true identity was Aberforth Dumbledore.
I’m like, ‘Wait a second, David, how do I get an English accent? How do my eyes turn blue? This doesn’t make any sense.’ And he’s like, ‘That’s all I know; that’s all I can tell you for now.’ Essentially, I thought I was Aberforth Dumbledore, the known brother of Dumbledore, and David — we were on the loud bus. It was a miscommunication.
Luckily, Jo was able to set him straight a few weeks later.
I see Jo, and I’m like, ‘Jo, Jo, Jo. How do I acquire the English accent? How does it make any sense? We know where Aberforth was from the time that he was born.’ And Jo said, ‘Did David Heyman tell you this?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah.’ She was like, ‘Oh, no. You’re not Aberforth; you’re Aurelius.’ And I was like, ‘Who’s that?’ And she’s like, ‘Nobody knows about him but me, darling, and you now.’
Both those conversations took place in 2016, meaning that Miller had to keep the secret about Aurelius for over two years – since we’ve been struggling to keep the secret from our friends who haven’t seen the movie in the past four days, we certainly sympathize. You can watch him recount the story in the video below.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Ezra shared more about how learning Credence’s true identity affected his portrayal of the character and speculated on what could be next for the newly revealed Dumbledore sibling.
As soon as he knew he would be joining the Dumbledore line, Ezra looked to the actors who have previously portrayed members of the family for inspiration.
This character is changing, going through physical changes in relation to the Obscurial, [with] which we know he has an unusual relationship. So as he changes, there’s an opportunity for me as an actor to look to five of my favorite performances of all time — the people I’ve seen play Albus and Aberforth. Shout[-]out to all those incredible actors, and I’m thrilled to play the game that we’re now blood relations.
As far as whether or not Dumbledore knows of Aurelius’s existence, Miller is as in the dark as we are, speculating that Jude Law may know, but he doesn’t. Still, Ezra trusts that Jo knows what she’s doing.
She knows the mythology so well and I think she’s into confounding you for a moment and having a fan go, ‘[W]ait, that can’t make sense!’ and then showing you how things you thought couldn’t make sense make sense. I think she enjoys people not getting it for a second. She’s done it to us a bunch of times.
And while he doesn’t know – or perhaps can’t say – what’s in store for the future of his character, he does muse that since the first film focused on the question “what?” and the second “who?”, the next film is likely to explore the question of “why?” – suggesting that the next Fantastic Beasts movie will shed light on why Aurelius was separated from the rest of his family.
In the meantime, Ezra is happy for the chance to be a little villainous.
The villain on a certain level is always right. The protagonist, on a certain level, has to maintain the status quo. That’s why we love villains, because they come and try to shake things up. And then it’s about restoring the power and potency to doing good. And Jo does incredible work with that.
Do Ezra’s comments change your perspective on the ending of Crimes of Grindelwald? What do you think is next for Aurelius?
