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Sundance 2014: Miles Teller Talks Divergent, Getting Naked in That Awkward Moment and his Rock Band Past

Actor hits film festival for opening night premiere of new his new drama, Whiplash

By Marc Malkin Jan 17, 2014 4:16 AMTags
Miles Teller, Sundance Film FestivalGeorge Pimentel/Getty Images for Sundance Film Festival

Miles Teller is giving Tom Cruise a run for his money.

OK, maybe not, but check out what Teller just told me about his work in the upcoming Divergent.

"We were running on trains going like 12 [and] 14 miles per hour," he said at the opening night premiere of his new drama, Whiplash, at the Sundance Film Festival. "I heard Tom Cruise only does 17 miles an hour. I'm like just below Tom Cruise."

Daniel McFadden/Sundance Institute

Teller costars in the much-anticipated big screen adaptation of the young adult novel of the same name with Shaliene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet and Maggie Q. It's set to hit theaters on March 21.

"I think it's good if your work is seen internationally," Teller says of the fandemonium surrounding the movie. "It's hard for a mall movie to kind of get in theaters outside of the country…I'm introducing myself to the European market."

He also stars opposite Zac Efron and Michael B. Jordan in That Awkward Moment (in theaters on Jan. 31), a sometimes raunchy romantic comedy about three friends who vow to stay single after one splits from his wife.

In one scene, a completely naked Efron is seen lying across a toilet in order to pee because he's still under the influence of Viagra.

Teller also had to plank a toilet. "I didn't realize it was going to be fully nude like that," he said. "Zac is in good shape and Michael is in good shape. I had just gotten done doing a movie where I wasn't in that good of shape. I was drinking the whole time. So I showed up and I was also on antibiotics and I felt bloated and they said, 'Take your clothes off!' I said, 'I'm not taking everything off. I'm going to take my pants off by leave my shirt on.'"

Whiplash, directed by Damien Chazelle, is a completely different kind of film. Teller plays a 19-year-old jazz drummer who is pushed to the limits by his teacher (J.K. Simmons) at a prestigious music conservatory. It's been dubbed, "Full Metal Jacket at Julliard."

"I've been drumming since I was 15," Teller said. "I played in a couple of rock bands…but jazz is a high art. Jazz is a totally different beast."

The actor did most of his own drumming. "I'd say I drum like 70 percent," Teller said. "Whatever Natalie Portman said about [her dancing in] Black Swan, like 80 percent? I'll say that."