Miles Teller names his five favourite movies of all time
From the unexpected box office domination of Top Gun: Maverick, we now have Miles Teller back as a leading man – returning from the abyss of Hollywood not knowing where he fits – and is, today, one of the most sought actors. Teller is now on top of the world after playing Rooster, the son of Goose, Maverick’s old flying partner, in last year’s biggest surprise.
Teller started his career in mainly comedic roles, starring very early on in his career in comedies such as Project X and 21 and Over. He has also enjoyed more dramatic performances and starred as Andrew, the main character in Damien Chazelle’s breakout Sundance-winning movie Whiplash, bringing Teller to the public’s attention. While his career did settle down over the last couple of years, it seems Top Gun: Maverick has undone all of this.
Back in 2013, coming off the height of another low-tier comedy, the forgettable That Awkward Moment, starring Zac Efron and Michael B. Jordan (yes, Apollo Creed’s son), a movie which remains forever at the bottom of Teller’s career, Teller told Rotten Tomatoes his five favourite movies and how they have shaped his performances and love for movies in the first place. Across his list, you can see the former comedy actor show his appreciation for the genre. He also showers praise onto legendary comedian actors such as Bill Murray, Chevy Chase and Steve Martin.
Teller’s first film on this list is the third instalment of the Indiana Jones franchise, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Hailed for being somewhat of a comeback to the franchise’s glory, compared to the darker nature of the sequel/prequel Temple of Doom, this film reunites Indiana Jones with his father, Sean Connery, on an adventure to find the Holy Grail. The Last Crusade is iconic for featuring a young Indiana Jones scene at the start, which stars River Phoenix.
He lists the 2002 forgotten indie film Love Liza as another, citing it being one of his inspirations to begin paying attention to independent films and how they were made. He also lists Hoffman’s performance as transfixing and leaving an impression on him.
Tom Hanks’ fish-out-of-water comedy Big makes its way onto the list. As the list shapes up, you can clearly see Teller is not particularly influenced by foreign or art house pictures that frequently crop up on lists of this nature. Teller is telling Rotten Tomatoes that he enjoys the joy of film and it is never clearer than when he lists Big for making him as a kid “want an apartment with a vending machine.”
This point is only further backed up by Teller adding Wedding Crashers and saying, “I just thought the movie was so, so funny.” Wedding Crashers remains a central film in the 2000s comedy genre, with a comedy as a genre today almost dead and buried, where on-screen/off-screen best friends Vince Vaughan and Owen Wilson attempt to ‘pick-up’ bridesmaids at weddings that they weren’t invited to. If you think this movie wouldn’t have a cat-in-hell’s-chance of getting made today, you’d be wrong. A sequel is currently in development.
The final film is a slight detour from the list above us, but he notes that the classic The Wizard of Oz was the first film he saw as a child, and he watched it incessantly. The Wizard of Oz, for its iconic story and role in Hollywood at the time, is often hyped as one of the greatest films of all time and remains a firm staple on ‘Greatest Movie’ lists to this day.
You can view Miles Teller’s favourite movies below.
Miles Teller’s five favourite movies:
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Steven Spielberg, 1989)
- Love Liza (Todd Louiso, 2002)
- Big (Penny Marshall, 1988)
- Wedding Crashers (David Dobkin, 2005)
- The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939)
