In Hollywood, biting the hand that feeds that can have consequences, but that doesn’t seem to matter to rising star Miles Teller. The actor, whose role in this fall’s awards season contender "Whiplash" is creating a lot of buzz, is best known as Peter in "Divergent" a $288 million worldwide hit. But despite that tentpole film making his name familiar in every corner of the globe, Teller is honest about his experiences as such not being the most artistically satisfying endeavor.
“When I first read ‘Whiplash,’ I was feeling dead inside,” the actor told W Magazine. “I didn’t have an interesting part [in ‘Divergent’], and I’d taken the film for business reasons: It was the first movie I’d done that was going to have an international audience. I called my agent and said, ‘this sucks.’ He told me about ‘Whiplash.’ ”
So perhaps his role in "Whiplash" was a reward for slogging through a project he wasn’t so taken with? Maybe. While Teller’s candor is refreshing, his words are not the sort studio marketing departments likes to hear, particularly in light of the actor shooting "Insurgent" soon for release next spring. We’re sure that Camp Teller will issue a statement about how much he loves the franchise soon enough, but until then, the actor has a project he really wants to make.
"… my main dream is to play Elvis. That’s my goal. I think he and I look alike and do a lot of similar things well: sing, dance, and I think he played sports,” he says. And he has a specific era of Elvis he wants to tackle, and it’s not the latter, flabby years of the King.
“I want to play Young Elvis,” Teller explained. “They’ve never gotten that right. It’s easy to do wrecked, bloated, and drug-addicted. I want to play characters who have the fever and win. It’s harder.”
And yep, we want to see that too. But Teller may have to learn that paycheck gigs sometimes allow those non-blockbuster movies to get made. [via THR]
Update: That was fast…Miles Teller tweets regarding his comments about "Divergent"
I’ve never done a movie for "business" reasons. I’m proud to be a part of Divergent franchise and love all of Peter’s Princesses
— Miles Teller (@Miles_Teller) September 24, 2014
The funny thing is that his Tweet WAS done for business reasons. I think he\’s probably a tool, and will disappear from even Hollywood\’s shallow consciousness in the next few years. They act like he\’s the Next Big Thing, when I\’ve known of him in exactly TWO movies (only one of which I\’ve seen, and didn\’t care for), and I\’ve never even known his name.
Even if he took the role for business reasons as many actors do, if he took the money and is still in the franchise, stop complaining about the artistic integrity of the project. It is disrespectful.
we all know that Miles really did this for money! Divergent is so bad that i felt dead for watching it!
Oh, Thats from the W? Sorry. Its their bad then.
Kevin, You kind of Burned him, he obviously omitted "Divergent" to not sound like a jerk, and you plugged it back in… That seems a bit unethical.
Some actors should just keep their mouths shut. They either say something they need to immediately (and utterly unconvincingly) revoke, or they end up saying dumb, arrogant sh*t like \’I look like Elvis\’, and reveal to us all what utter self-involved douchebags they really are. Keep your mouth shut, learn some humility and let your talent do the talking, Teller.
However, he should play Dean Martin – not Elvis…
He didn\’t say "he should play Elvis", he said his dream was to play Elvis. Young Elvis. If his performance in Footloose is any indication of his musical talent, I\’d love to see him play Elvis. Regarding taking a part as a business reason….aren\’t they all in it to make a living? Why should they be criticized for their honesty? Maybe it should be hush because the audience is just naive enough to believe they\’re in it for fun only.
This from the guy who is MR. FANTASTIC in the forthcoming Fantastic Four and sequel!!! Get over yourself mate, just act, enjoy the limelight and make money. A zillion other young actors would kill for your position!!
So did W misquote him or what? I don\’t have a problem with an actor saying he took a role for business reasons and I don\’t think it\’s biting the hand that feeds him, either. They all do it. All of them have taken a part because they needed the money and they weren\’t being offered anything else at the time. Some are just more honest about it than others and I find that refreshing.
Thanks Heather. I\’m always stunned to hear when someone from the audience supports Hollywood and their fraternity system of over paid, lowest common denominator millionaires. (badmouthing?) Sonia, do you have a financial share in some Hollywood stock? Stop sipping their kool aid! Wakeup!
To be fair @Sophia, I didn\’t hear any backpedaling anywhere in there, and although the Elvis bit was a bit overconfident, I agree with him about Divergent and the choice to make watered down movies in Hollywood.
An actor badmouthing a franchise then backpedaling, and then going on some tangent about how obviously he should play Elvis – and f\’n Playlist eats it all right up. You\’re so damn typical.