For a decent period of time, Miles Teller was at the top of the Hollywood totem pole,
but he's mostly been M.I.A. as of late. As it turns out, his absence from the spotlight
can be attributed to a few different factors — some of which are more innocuous than others.
Despite his recent break from the silver screen, Miles Teller isn't done exercising his acting
chops just yet. Back in 2018, news broke that the actor had been cast as Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw
in the upcoming film Top Gun: Maverick. Bradley is the son of Goose from the original movie,
and he appears to be following in his father's footsteps by becoming a pilot. It's the kind of
big-budget production Teller needed after two of his higher-profile projects, Fantastic Four
and The Divergent Series: Allegiant, failed to make a big impression at the box office.
The main problem is that Top Gun: Maverick keeps getting pushed back. It was originally supposed to
come out back in 2019 but was delayed into 2020. And we all know what happened at that point.
Paramount pushed Top Gun: Maverick, along with most of its other offerings,
into 2021 and beyond so that audiences would be able to experience big-screen spectacle
from the comfort of a movie theater without worrying about coronavirus. In the meantime,
fans could see the actor in the 2019 Amazon original series, Too Old to Die Young,
but that only lasted a single season. Still, going a couple years between films for a
burgeoning young star is pretty unusual, and his perceived persona may have played a role in that.
In 2015, Esquire wanted to do a cover story on Teller. Pretty standard stuff,
especially given the fact he had just starred in a major comic book adaptation with Fantastic Four,
so you would think Teller would be on his best behavior. Unfortunately,
here's the first line of the article in question:
"You're sitting across from Miles Teller at the Luminary restaurant in
Atlanta and trying to figure out if he's a d---."
"Wow. Rude."
While the Esquire piece does compliment his body of work, most people were too distracted by how
much Teller came across as, to put it lightly, a jerk. Salon went so far as to gather some choice
quotes from the cover story that didn't exactly paint the actor in the best light,
such as when he compared a highball glass to a part of his anatomy
or when he made a distasteful joke when calling the reporter an Uber.
It wasn't the best look for the up-and-coming actor,
but he didn't seem to pay it much mind. He would later tell Vulture…
"People outside of the business will think of me however they want,
but I want people inside the business to see everything I can do. I gotta get moving."
Even when the public's perception of you changes ever so slightly,
one good role can turn everything around. After coming off the immense success of Whiplash, Teller
was set to reunite with director Damien Chazelle for his next film, the Academy Award darling La
La Land. Teller was supposed to have the lead role that would eventually go to Ryan Gosling.
Emma Watson, who was originally attached to star in the role that went to Emma Stone,
also had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with Beauty and the Beast.
Teller's departure is a bit murkier, but as he would tell Esquire…
"I got a call from my agent, saying, 'Hey, I just got a call from Lionsgate. Damien told them that
he no longer thinks you're creatively right for the project. He's moving on without you.'"
The actor elaborated on his departure somewhat in his later interview with Vulture…
"A couple people know the truth. [...] I'll go to my grave knowing that when push came
to shove I expressed extreme loyalty to Damien and that movie. That's sorta all I can say."
With a missed chance to show off his singing prowess and star in another Best Picture nominee,
we can't help but wonder if Teller spends any sleepless nights thinking
about what would have happened if La La Land made it onto his resume.
"That is dumb. No. No. Noooo. No. Never."
Teller got himself a bad-boy reputation in the aftermath of his Esquire interview, and that image
was only further cemented when he got into a bit of a rough spot with Johnny Law. An initial report
from E! News suggested the actor had been arrested for walking around intoxicated in San Diego.
Later, Teller took to Twitter to give his side of the story.
"Went down to SD to see my buddy before he deployed. I wasn't arrested.
I was detained bc there was no evidence to charge me with a crime."
He posted a follow-up tweet, stating…
"Don't believe everything you read, especially from a third
party entertainment news source trying to get clicks. Appreciate the concern."
Regardless of what actually transpired that evening, the bad press certainly didn't help
with his image. While we won't know how much the incident affected his ability to land work,
if at all, it appeared from the outside to be just one more questionable decision on his part.
"I don't care. I'm getting wasted."
Of course, the main reason Teller may have kept a lower profile in recent years is due to the fact
he's too busy enjoying life with his wife, model Keleigh Sperry. The two have been together since
2013; they got engaged in 2017 and then tied the knot roughly two years later on September 1, 2019.
Teller seems to love married life, if a recent interview with Men's Health is anything to go by.
"Once you get married and you make that ultimate commitment,
life is just a lot less stressful. […] You just know that person is always going to be there."
While he may have enjoyed the downtime, don't expect Teller to go away any time
soon. It seems he isn't sweating the gap in his filmography, as he goes on to say…
"I'm not one of those people who worry about if people don't see me every six months.
I don't feel like my career is dying. It's going to happen when it happens and that's fine."
In addition to having Top Gun: Maverick on the horizon, he's also attached to other
upcoming films, including Escape From Spiderhead, Flag Day, and The Fence.
After a hectic few years, maybe some downtime is precisely what the star needed. Fortunately,
we can expect to see plenty of Teller in the very near future.
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