The co-star who “legitimately” wanted to punch Miles Teller: “You think he’s a dick”
Miles Teller became such a goddamn nuisance that he nearly prompted another actor to fight him.
It was evident ever since his extraordinary breakthrough performance as a guilt-ridden teenager in the Oscar-nominated drama Rabbit Hole that Miles Teller was one of the most talented young actors of his generation and was set to have a major career in the industry. Although he’s found no shortage of great parts, Teller has also found a way to provoke controversy based on the way that he’s behaved.
Many reports, rumours, and rumblings emerged from the set of the 2015 reboot of Fantastic Four, which saw Teller taking on the role of Reed Richards, a scientist gifted with superhuman abilities who adopts the identity of ‘Mister Fantastic’. Although there was a tremendous amount of anticipation to see what a new look at Marvel’s “First Family” would look like, especially given how disappointing the two previous films directed by Tim Story were, it wasn’t too long into production when warning signs started emerging about Fantastic Four.
Multiple publications speculated on the behaviour of director Josh Trank, who subsequently had the final cut of the film wrestled away from him. While it appeared that Trank had instigated some of the controversy, Teller was said to have contributed to the aura of hostility on set.
Although Trank and Teller would go on to deny that there was ever any serious fistcuffs on the set of Fantastic Four, some of the actor’s previous co-stars had different things to say. Jai Courtney, who co-starred with Teller in the Divergent films, said in an interview with Live Journal that he was immediately taken aback by his co-star’s attitude.
“He’s an interesting brand, you know?” Courney said.”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 dick.”
Teller’s strange sense-of-humor may have initially been off-putting to Courtney, but he went on to state that the two developed an understanding and grew to become friends on set. In fairness to Teller, he revealed that he had hated being cast in the Divergent films and had taken the role in Whiplash as a way to try something completely different.
It’s not a surprise that Teller and Courtney didn’t have a positive experience making Divergent, as the young adult franchise seemingly came a few years too late. Although it was framed as a new post-apocalyptic adventure series centring on a group of young characters, Divergent felt so close to The Hunger Games that it became impossible not to compare the two.
Thankfully, both Teller and Courtney were able to escape being in more Divergent films, albeit for different reasons. Courtney’s character, Eric, was killed off in the second film, Insurgent; while Teller’s character survived the first three entries, the third film, Allegiant, was such a financial disaster that it prevented a fourth film from ever being made. Perhaps Teller and Courtney might have a better time working together if they’re able to be part of a film that actually excites them.
