People have told Miles Teller again and again that life as he knows it is about to change. “I’ve literally heard that from the first movie I did,” the actor says one morning last week at the Bowery Hotel. “It’s funny, whenever critics say an actor came out of nowhere, they’ve usually been working for years.” Though he remains skeptical, it’s safe to say that Teller’s latest film, Whiplash, will be the one to do the trick.
Teller plays Andrew, a young student at a prestigious music conservatory who wants to be the greatest jazz drummer of all time. He’s taken under the wing of a widely respected and just as widely feared teacher, played with manic energy by J. K. Simmons. Somewhat based on the early music experiences of the film’s director, Damien Chazelle, the movie’s jazz scenes are electric and invigorating. But the grueling rehearsal process leaves viewers with the uncomfortable question: When a promising talent is pushed in the name of greatness, how far is too far?
Known for his roles in romantic comedies (That Awkward Moment) and dramatic coming-of-age films (The Spectacular Now), Teller displays a range in Whiplash unlike anything we’ve seen from him before, transforming onscreen from a timid back-up drummer to a tenaciously driven, borderline-unhinged virtuoso. “It’s really rare to get these kinds of parts,” he says. “As far as dramatically, it really pushes the boundaries and I think it goes as far as it can go.”
Chazelle always had the 27-year-old Teller in mind for the role, but it was a happy coincidence that the actor already knew his way around a drum set. “I used to play in some shitty bands in high school,” he recalls. “Me and my buddies played homecoming and talent shows.” Still, learning how to play jazz was a whole different endeavor. With just three weeks to prepare, Teller dove into his jazz lessons. “They were good but they were also very hard,” Teller says. “At first I felt stupid even holding the stick.”
When Whiplash premiered at Sundance early this year, it took the festival by storm and won both the Audience Award and U.S. Grand Jury Prize for the Dramatic category, generating Oscar buzz for both of the film’s stars. But Teller is somewhat dismissive about all the buzz. “People feel like they have to use the word Oscar a lot of the time to get people to click on their article,” he says. “I think you can just appreciate what someone does and review it without having to feel like you have to talk about the great end result of an Oscar.”
Nomination or not, Teller is already set to star in a couple of big-budget movies next year, including the new Fantastic Four reboot and Insurgent, the sequel to this year’s hit dystopian film Divergent. He’s also about to start filming a Martin Scorsese–produced biopic about boxer Vinny Pazienza. “He was a world champion and then he got in a car accident and broke two vertebrae in his neck,” Teller explains. “They said he would never box again and it’s a really great story.”
Now based in Los Angeles, Teller still manages to make time to visit his alma mater, New York University, while in town. “Every time I come back to New York I go to my old acting school and I ask, ‘Hey, do you mind, is it cool if I do a Q&A thing with the students?’ Because I loved that when I was there,” he says. “Seeing someone who was working, asking them questions. It kind of lets you know that it’s possible.”