Live from New York, it’s Rooster! Fresh from his Top Gun success, Miles TellerHe made his hosting debut on Saturday Night Live — and he’s touting the military movie as comedic inspiration.
“This year I was in a movie called Top Gun: Maverick and one of the things that I loved about the movie is that it really seemed to bring people together,” Teller, 35 years old, on Saturday, October 1, episode 48 premiere. “I mean, it’s not every day that you get a movie that’s loved by both the military community and the gay community. So, it worked out.”
He continued: “It was also amazing to get to work with Tom Cruise. That guy is a legend. We both went to great lengths to make this movie. I mean, he did his own stunts and I grew my own mustache.”
Teller learned new musical techniques and was able to grow his own facial hair.
“In the movie, there’s a scene where my character Rooster plays and sings ‘Great Balls of Fire’ on the piano and, you, I played piano a bit growing up, so I told [producers], ‘Look, I don’t need a double, guys. I will do this myself; I’ll do this live,’” the actor quipped during his monologue. “So, I learned this song and I practiced it a bunch; I even took piano lessons. My instructor was J.K. Simmons [my costar in Whiplash, and] he was surprisingly nice.”
The War Dogs Even one of his co-stars was there to join him Maverick Costars who have hosted the late-night show three times previously: Jon Hamm.
The Mad Man Teller and The Alumni 51-year-old alum joined Teller SNL Cast for the cold-open sketch, which was parodied Peyton ManningAnd Eli Manning‘s “Manningcast” recap series.
“I don’t know what [I’ve seen so far], but it’s not comedy,” Hamm quipped after Teller’s Peyton asked how the political sketch was going. “I mean, they haven’t even used Kenan [Thompson] yet. That’s like putting a whole team of Eli’s on the field when you have Peyton sitting on the sidelines.”
After Teller and Andrew Dismukes(Who played Eli), joked that Shaun White‘s own cameo was “stunt casting,” Hamm offered an explanation.
“You know, sometimes [they have to do that] when the host isn’t that famous,” the Morning Show His star teased him Maverick costar. “Maybe they couldn’t get the star of the big summer movie [like]Tom Cruise or Jon Hamm [so] they had to get the costar.”
Teller’s Peyton shot back: “I heard they rarely put the host in the cold open, so when they do, it’s special!”
The Footloose actor’s Saturday jokes reference his role as Lt. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw in May’s Top Gun: Maverick. The film — a sequel to the 1986 production — followed Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell as he trained a group of new recruits for an integral military mission. Teller, Glen Powell, Greg Tarzan DavisAnd Lewis PullmanAll of us played the newbies.
“It is really intense, just like the nature of it,” the Spectacular Now star said during an April appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live About his experience on set. “You know, you’re flying all the time [and] you’re in these briefings and that’s very serious but a lot of times I’d have a little Bluetooth speaker and I would start playing, like, songs from the Top Gun In the middle of intense music [scenes] just to lighten up.”
Not only did they Top Gun: Maverick gross more than $150 million in its opening weekend, but Teller’s chiseled abs became a central conversation point thanks to a singular shirtless scene of the Pennsylvania native dancing on the beach. Before the Divergent actor’s big screen shirtless moment he followed a strict fitness regimen to get in shape.
“Tom is a huge advocate of making sure that these guys are really put through the rigors and the tests,” Teller’s personal trainer, Jason Walsh, exclusively told Us Weekly In June. “They were actually in these jets … so [it was about] physical preparation, just getting strong, moving well, make sure physically he was very fit.”
The Rise Nation founder added: “I knew Tom was gonna put these guys through it and he definitely did. It’s evident on their faces. When they’re doing this, they’re not faking it. This is true. … [Miles] took everything very seriously. He was professional. It was obvious that this was going to test him physically. And the payoff was, you know, an incredible movie.”
Several of Teller’s castmates have also been candid about how they prepared for Maverick is the top gun
“We had to do all this swim training in order to get certified in order to get into the plane that wasn’t even in the movie,” Pullman, 29, told UseIn July. “But despite all that, despite the challenges, Tom really set up this course himself, he designed this training, this training program himself. Tom Cruise was the perfect person to do it. It is impossible to know what an actor needs to perform at this level. And so it really, he kind of gave us this really gradual program and in such a way that it felt manageable and in these kind of like bite-size digestive portions where it was like, ‘OK, I think I can do this. I think this is absolutely insane, but I think I can do it.’”
While Teller’s Saturday appearance — alongside musical guest Kendrick Lamar —marks his first time hosting the late-night variety series, his wife — Keleigh Teller, whom he wed in September 2019 — and their celebrity friends were thrilled by the casting news.
“F–kkkk yaaaaa 💥💥💥,” Nina Dobrev commented on Keleigh’s Instagram post about NBC’s announcement last month. Gigi France, who’s dating Miles’ Maverick costar Powell, 33, replied: “So exciting!!! 😍”
The Spiderhead actor’s SNL Given his childhood fandom, the debut hosted by him was memorable..
“I gotta say I am so honored to be here. My family and I used to watch the news together growing up. SNL every week and then my sisters [Erin and Dana]I would reenact some of these sketches [including the ‘Spartan Cheerleaders’] and my mom would videotape them,” Miles noted in his monologue before sharing a clip. “How crazy is that? My parents used to watch me doing skits in my living room and now they’re here watching me host Saturday Night Live.”
Saturday Night Live airs on NBC Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET.
You can find out more by watching the video clip above.
