From Tisch to Top Gun. Miles Teller made his major film debut one year after graduating from NYU’s School of the Arts and went on to star in movies including the DivergentSeries Fantastic Four.
The Pennsylvania native was there to help. Nicole KidmanThe 2010 film Rabbit Hole, an experience he called “surreal” during an interview with BlackBook. “It was very much a larger-than-life, surreal experience, you know, going from seeing these people that you’re a fan of and then you’re working with them,” he said. “It’s similar with sports. You can watch these people growing up and then be in the same industry as them.”
But Teller didn’t stay the starstruck newcomer for long. In 2014, he was a jazz drummer for the psychological drama. Whiplash, which was nominated for five Oscars. J.K. Simmons, who played Teller’s villainous instructor, won Best Supporting Actor for his performance.
The Tisch graduate performed all the sequences of drumming in the film. “I started drumming when I was 15 and I had played in rock bands, but I had never played jazz,” Teller said in a 2014 interview with IndieWire. The outlet heard him tell that he felt frustrated trying to master the new genre.
“All those guys [in the film] are real musicians so they’re really playing and I’m really playing the drums — and the music is complicated. I’m trying not to mess up. In the drum-off scene, that’s really all of us drumming as fast as we can and really expending ourselves, which is nice because it’s easier to be exhausted than to play exhausted,” he explained.
Teller also starred on the 2013 coming-of age drama The Spectacular NowWith Shailene WoodleyBefore you appear in DivergentIts two sequels with The Big Little Lies star. Woodley gave her former co-star a shoutout after she saw him in the 2022 film Top Gun: Maverick.
“@tomcruise obvi slayed so hard … and #milesteller gave the world everything you want but rarely get in a blockbuster film … heart. soul. sass. charisma. (oiled up abs). pain. elation. and he did it all with such subtlety you barely knew it was happening,” she wrote via Instagram in June 2022. “He really is such a wildly talented actor, and it made my heart explode watching him do his thing in this. i’m beyond happy for him and this entire @topgunmovie team. thank you for giving the world this gift.”
Teller is a married model and has a personal life. Keleigh SperrySince September 2019. The couple began dating in 2013, and they got engaged on a South African trip in 2017.
“2 years ago today, I married the woman of my dreams,” the We appreciate your assistance.Actor wrote via Twitter in 2021. “There isn’t a day that goes by where I’m not reminded of how much I truly love and adore you. Keleigh, thank-you for your kindness and support. I would be lost without you.”
The real-life bride and groom appeared in the film as the bride. Taylor Swift’s 2021 music video for “I Bet You Think About Me.”
