Miles Teller

Miles Teller is one of those rare overnight successes who did not have years of toil before his breakthrough: he co-starred opposite Nicole Kidman in his big screen debut and garnered rave reviews for one of his earliest roles, as an emotionally troubled teen in the romantic drama "The Spectacular Now" (2013). A native of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, Miles Teller spent high school pursuing his music, playing drums in a band he started in his church youth group. After stumbling into drama his junior year in college, Miles went to NYU where he earned a BA from the Tisch School of the Arts.

During college, Teller starred in a number of short films, but burst onto the big screen alongside stars like Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart in the family drama "Rabbit Hole" (2010). After appearing in sidekick roles in the poorly-received remake of the 1980s hit "Footloose" (2011) and the found-footage comedy "Project X" (2012), Teller's career really began to gain traction with his performance in "The Spectacular Now." Playing opposite Oscar nominee Shailene Woodley as a teenage boy with self-destructive tendencies navigating the emotional waters of his first serious romantic relationship, he was critically praised for his subtle, emotional performance.

Teller next starred in the movie "Whiplash" (2014), about a young jazz drummer. Although he initially turned down the role, his manager encouraged him to take it on. The film went to win the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. At the same time, Teller flexed his romantic comedy chops alongside Zac Efron and Michael B. Jordan in "That Awkward Moment" (2014) and co-starred opposite Shailene Woodley in dystopian teen action drama "Divergent" (2014) and its sequels "The Divergent Series: Insurgent" (2015) and "The Divergent Series: Allegiant" (2016).

Although a bid for comic book superhero stardom as "Mr Fantastic" Reed Richards fizzled when the reboot attempt "Fantastic Four" (2015) was released to scathing reviews and dismal box office, Teller returned opposite Jonah Hill in Todd Phillips' satiric Iraq War comedy-drama "War Dogs" (2016). That same year, a film Teller had shot in 2012, post-collegiate comedy "Get A Job" (2016), was given a belated limited release.