The Stand 2020: Why Ezra Miller's Trashcan Man Honors The Stephen King Book
Episode 6 of The Stand on CBS All Access opens with a literal bang introducing Ezra Miller as the infamous Trashcan Man, and Miller's performance as one of Stephen King's most memorable, deranged characters honors the book in all the right ways. Though he's only in one of King's novels and isn't even in the novel all that much, he plays a pivotal role in the final act and King's characterization of the pyromaniac is memorable.
The Trashcan Man, or Donald Merwin Elbert, is a standout character in Stephen King's universe. He's a tragic figure clearly suffering from mental illness, much of it brought on by his past experiences. When he was a boy, his father went on a murderous rampage. Although he survives the encounter, he's left with a deep psychological trauma that he copes with by lighting things on fire. Eventually, this habit leads him to burn his house down, and his mother sends him away to a mental hospital, where his mental illness only gets worse. King never fully explains the reason for his mental illness, but the only things the Trashcan Man cares about now are fire and destruction. Randall Flagg (Alexander Skarsgard) sees the Trashcan Man and his obsession as an asset and soon recruits him to find a nuclear warhead.
Ezra Miller's performance as the Trashcan Man is the best in the series, twitchy but free. Miller perfectly captures the insecurities and excitement the Trashcan Man is feeling. In one moment, he's cautious and guarded, and in the next, as if realizing he's no longer being watched, he bursts into energetic movement. He's been institutionalized for most of his life, which means living under strict and often unreasonable rules, but he's free now. The end of the world for everyone else means the beginning of a whole new life for the Trashcan Man. Miller is able to capture the psychological complexities of the character that didn't ring as true in Matt Frewer's performance as the Trashcan Man in the original Stand miniseries from 1994.
Ezra Miller (known for his role as Credence in the Fantastic Beasts movies and as portraying The Flash in the DC Extended Universe) captures the nuances and contradictions of Stephen King's character in a way that Matt Frewer was unable to do back in '94. Frewer's Trashcan Man feels more cartoonish and lacks the dimension that Miller brings to the character. Of course, the same could be said for several characters in this newest adaptation of The Stand, particularly Harold Lauder and Frannie Goldsmith. Nevertheless, Miller's Trashcan Man is filled with honest excitement exploding beneath a demeanor of anxious twitching, which rings true to the character portrayed in King's novel with such a tragic backstory.
In King's book, it's easy to feel sorry for the Trashcan Man knowing his past, despite how dangerous he is. Miller plays the character this way, clearly aware of Trashy's history despite there being no room in the miniseries for his backstory. He brings the character to life in a way that the previous miniseries couldn't pull off. Matt Frewer, who is an accomplished and respected veteran actor in his own right, comes across a little too goofy. He doesn't have the same mentally-disturbed quality that Miller brings to the table, his mental disability coming across as more childish and not as dark as it should be. It will be interesting to see more of Miller's Trashcan Man in future episodes of The Stand on CBS All Access and if he is to meet the same fate as the character in Stephen King's novel and the previous miniseries.