The Shady Side Of Miles Teller

After breaking onto the big screen scene in 2010's gut-wrenching drama Rabbit Hole and making a big impression in the sleeper hit Project X, Miles Teller went from promising young actor to overnight star. He's since enjoyed the rare distinction of being cast in respectable indies, ensemble comedies, and big-budget popcorn fare. Despite some impressive work on-screen, though, his off-screen antics have steadily tarnished the actor's reputation. Here are some of the things about Miles Teller that are putting people off right about now.

In June 2017, Teller was reportedly arrested for public intoxication in San Diego, Calif. According to TMZ, he was out partying with friends and a police officer approached the group to question Teller, but he was uncooperative and was put in cuffs as a result. Teller offered his own account of the situation in a series of tweets the next day, writing, "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. Don't believe everything you read, especially from a third party entertainment news source trying to get clicks. Appreciate the concern."

Despite his public denial of any charges, several other sources have since confirmed with the San Diego Police Department that he was, indeed, arrested on the night of the incident. Semantics aside, Teller went on to add what many regarded as deflection, saying, "I blame Shore Club" in reference to the establishment they'd been to before the alleged lockup. It's not the first time his blame game behavior would cause him problems.

When Miles Teller landed a key role as a cast member in the cinematic adaptation of Veronica Roth's Divergent series, it was a definite boon in his then-burgeoning career. Although he'd previously impressed in films like The Spectacular Now, Divergent had the potential to reach The Hunger Games levels of ubiquity, and Teller's role was one which would last the whole franchise. The series ultimately didn't live up to expectations, however, and Teller was the first to publicly pan the project. In an interview with W magazine, he explained, "When I first read Whiplash, I was feeling dead inside. 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."

He later tried to backtrack on his words, indicating that they were taken out of context, but the bitter tone of the interview left a sour taste in fans' mouths. Making matters worse, once the final installment Allegiant was dropped from Lionsgate's big screen plans and instead optioned for a TV run, Teller was the first cast member to speak up and cast doubt on the star's return for the altered project. He told The Hollywood Reporter, "Things do change anytime they're messing with something that was not the original intention. We all signed on for it in hopes that it'd be released in theaters, and we all had every intention of finishing [the franchise]." Eventually, others followed in his footsteps to exit the series as well, but considering his earlier insult to the series, his early departure definitely rubbed fans the wrong way.

Shortly after Teller's harsh words about the Divergent film(s) to W were published, co-star Jai Courtney stepped up to defend him ... sort of. In a chat with Elle, the actor laughed about Teller's statement and attempted to explain his meaning, saying, "I understand. I think there is a strategy to all of us who have experiences taking on the small parts because of the exposure you get off something like that. I mean, money comes into play, but it isn't like any of us are making millions yet."

However, Courtney also made sure to add that Teller's attitude is off-putting, even for those who like him. He said, "I also know Miles very well. He's a very good friend of mine. He's an interesting brand, you know? It's like, I wanted to legitimately punch him for a couple of weeks when I first met him. He's not there to make sure you understand his brand of comedy. It's like you either get it or you don't. And if you don't, you think he's a d**k. And he's not! At all. But it's a very specific tone that he kind of operates under." And while Courtney might be able to read through his harsh words, there have been plenty of others who took offense to Teller's tone.

After arriving as a stand-out in the out-of-control party pic Project X, Miles Teller stepped into a pretty big role when he was cast in Josh Trank's Fantastic Four reboot as Reed Richards. But their professional relationship quickly soured on the set of the production, as the director was reportedly way too tough on the thesps, with Teller refusing to take it.

As detailed by The Hollywood Reporter, "During takes, he would be telling [cast members] when to blink and when to breathe. He kept pushing them to make the performance as flat as possible." Teller, who was cast in the role thanks to Trank's insistence despite the studio wanting another for his part, reportedly almost came to blows with his director during a particularly intense day on set. As reported by Entertainment Weekly (via ComicBookMovie), the two had an intense argument on the set of the film that very nearly resulted in a physical confrontation. A source explained, "He ended up almost fighting Teller, who has a reputation for sarcasm and recalcitrance while working. At one point, the conflict nearly became physical, with Trank and Teller chest to chest, daring each other to throw the first punch. Neither did." 

Although a lot of that tension likely stemmed from the director's well-documented antagonism, it wasn't the last time he and a director would fail to see eye to eye.

After working with Damien Chazelle on the celebrated drummer drama Whiplash, Teller was scheduled to star in the writer-director's next musical project, La La Land. But he and would-be co-star Emma Watson were both dismissed from the cast list, supposedly for being too demanding, and the pair were replaced by Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling (both of whom would enjoy awards season acclaim as a result of their roles).

As Miles Teller seems to do, he made sure everyone knew about his unhappiness with Chazelle's decision. He told 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.'" He then shared the exact response he had to the news, saying that he texted Chazelle with, "What the f***, bro?" Of course, that was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to his ill-advised diatribes in that particular interview.

Perhaps the most notorious moment in Miles Teller's questionable interview history came when he spoke to Esquire in 2015 and was characterized by the interview as being "d***ish." Although he would later slam the publication for "misrepresenting" him, the quoted portions of his chat were condemning enough without any editorialization.

For example, in one segment of the interview, he said, "I was thinking about that today, how I probably think I'm better-looking than the public thinks I am. I was in one of these forums about a film I did, and it's like 'This dude is so ugly! How does he get f***ing parts?' 'Well, he's not, like, traditionally handsome, but...' And that's kind of what it is. Maybe it's because I came from a small town, but I always did well for myself." OK, so what? Is the implication that girls from small towns have lower standards? Or that there simply aren't as many good-looking people in small towns? Either way, we don't like the inference." 

There were a host of other cringeworthy moments from the piece, based on his words and/or behaviors, but even a year after the fact, Teller still felt victimized by the article. He later told The Guardian, "I felt frickin' helpless, I felt extremely misrepresented, I felt a little angry. For the average person, they are reading this article, they haven't met you, they're like, 'Oh Miles is an a**hole. You didn't hear it? You didn't read that Esquire? Yeah, she said he was an a**hole — he must be!" If it were just the one interview gone wrong, he might have a point there, but the Esquire incident hardly stands alone.

In another instance of Miles Teller showing symptoms of severe foot-in-mouth disease, the actor also seized an opportunity to distance himself from others of his acting generation in another headdesk-inducing chat with The New York Times. He said, "I feel like a lot of actors of my generation are not proper actors. I want to break out of that whole group of actors in their early 20s and really start to put stuff down that lets you know I take this seriously."

As if that self-aggrandizement weren't enough, he also made sure to set himself apart from his supposed celebrity looper, John Cusack, saying, "I guess we look alike. We did some similar movies. He was a leading man that wasn't traditionally good looking, who was offbeat and quirky but confident. I get it. But I don't want his career." The kicker to end them all, however, happened when he actually said the words: "I'm pretty hot now." Yes, really.

Teller has dated swimsuit model Keleigh Sperry for years, and the two appear to have a picture perfect romance that's somehow survived his many moments of celebrity conflict. But the pattern of his interview history dictates, he of course seized on an opportunity to put down others in the process of talking about his long-lasting relationship.

Speaking to Newsweek, he said, "I don't date actresses" and added that his girlfriend was instead "a real person." He'd later elaborate on what exactly that "real person" status entails in a chat with E! News, saying, "Right now, her full-time gig is kind of being with me ... she's allowed me to really focus on acting and what I want to do. She can come to set and visit me and hang out and doesn't really distract me from it." He's not always been so kind to former flames, by his own admission, though.

While Teller hasn't gone into specifics about what went wrong in his previous relationships, he has admitted to being regrettably unkind to his exes. He told Interview, "I've had certain moments in my life where I've felt really, really bad about s*** I've done to an ex-girlfriend. I've written long letters, and you almost want them to say it's okay, and sometimes they don't say it. Sometimes they say, 'I never want to talk you again.' That's tough to deal with."

He later elaborated just a little in a chat with Elle, saying, "There was a point after a relationship was over that I did not respect the girl's feelings as much as I should have. It was from a lack of maturity." He later conceded that said poor decision had something to do with a subsequent hookup that was documented on social media.