Miles Teller is an American actor known for playing aspiring jazz drummer Andrew Neiman in Whiplash and naval aviator Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw in Top Gun: Maverick. His career began in independent drama before expanding into romantic comedies, action films and stories based on real people. Born on February 20, 1987, he is 39 as of September 14, 2026, and is married to Keleigh Sperry.
His more recent work includes The Gorge, Eternity, the Michael Jackson biopic Michael and James Gray’s Paper Tiger. Together, those projects span science fiction, romance, music biography and family crime drama.
Bio
| Profile Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Miles Alexander Teller |
| Profession | American actor |
| Date of Birth | February 20, 1987 |
| Age | 39, as of September 14, 2026 |
| Birthplace | Downingtown, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts; graduated in 2009 |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Wife | Keleigh Sperry |
| Wedding | September 2019, in Maui, Hawaii |
| Feature-Film Debut | Rabbit Hole (2010) |
| Best-Known Films | The Spectacular Now, Whiplash, Divergent, Top Gun: Maverick |
| Notable Television Role | Albert S. Ruddy in The Offer (2022) |
| Recent Films | The Gorge (2025), Eternity (2025), Michael (2026), Paper Tiger (2026) |
| Award Recognition | Sundance special jury award for acting (2013); BAFTA Rising Star nominee (2015) |
Early life and acting education
Teller was born in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, and later grew up in Florida, where he attended Lecanto High School. Acting became an interest during his school years, alongside music and baseball.
He continued his training at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, studying at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute and graduating in 2009. His professional film career began soon afterwards, although he had already appeared in short films while studying.
Music also preceded his best-known musical role. He played drums before Whiplash, giving him experience to build on when he took the part of a student pursuing a demanding career in jazz.
From Rabbit Hole to The Spectacular Now
His feature-film debut came in Rabbit Hole in 2010, alongside Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart. The drama follows parents grieving the loss of their young son; Teller plays Jason, the teenager involved in the accident that killed him.
The following year, he appeared as Willard in the remake of Footloose. Moving from a bereavement drama to a dance film gave his early screen work markedly different settings and tones.
In 2013, The Spectacular Now placed him opposite Shailene Woodley. Directed by James Ponsoldt, the film follows Sutter Keely, a high-school student whose drinking and uncertain future complicate his relationship with Aimee.
Teller and Woodley received a special jury award for acting at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The recognition was an early career milestone, arriving before the release of Whiplash and his appearances in larger film franchises.
He also worked in comedy during this period, including 21 & Over and That Awkward Moment, the latter alongside Zac Efron and Michael B. Jordan.
How Whiplash changed Miles Teller’s career
In Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash (2014), Teller plays Andrew Neiman, a student at an elite music conservatory. Andrew wants to become an exceptional jazz drummer, but his relationship with instructor Terence Fletcher, played by J.K. Simmons, becomes increasingly destructive.
As Sony Pictures Classics’ film synopsis explains, Andrew’s pursuit of perfection turns into obsession under Fletcher’s relentless pressure. That relationship provides the film’s central conflict: a young musician’s ambition becomes entangled with a teacher’s abusive methods.
The performance required sustained physical work at the drum kit. Speaking to GQ in 2014, Teller described weeks of practice and the exhaustion involved in filming the musical sequences. His existing drumming experience formed part of that preparation, although the role demanded an intensity beyond simply knowing how to play.
The film became one of his defining credits. In 2015, he was nominated for BAFTA’s EE Rising Star Award alongside Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Margot Robbie, Shailene Woodley and eventual winner Jack O’Connell.
Franchises, comedy and real-life roles
While Whiplash brought attention to his dramatic work, Teller was also appearing in Divergent. He played Peter in the 2014 film and returned for Insurgent in 2015 and Allegiant in 2016, reuniting with Woodley in a very different screen relationship.
He then portrayed Reed Richards, also known as Mr. Fantastic, in the 2015 Fantastic Four reboot.
Other roles took him into films based on real people. In War Dogs (2016), he played David Packouz opposite Jonah Hill. That year also brought Bleed for This, in which he portrayed boxer Vinny Pazienza.
His 2017 credits included Brendan McDonough in Only the Brave and Sergeant Adam Schumann in Thank You for Your Service. These films extended a part of his career concerned with portraying identifiable individuals, alongside his work in fictional stories.
Rooster in Top Gun: Maverick
Top Gun: Maverick brought Teller into the world of Tom Cruise’s returning naval aviator in 2022. Directed by Joseph Kosinski, the film casts him as Lieutenant Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, the son of Maverick’s former flying partner, Goose.
Rooster’s family connection makes him central to the story. When Maverick returns to train a group of elite pilots for a specialised mission, he must also confront a relationship shaped by his past.
Teller appears alongside fellow cast members including Glen Powell, Jennifer Connelly and Jon Hamm. His character connects the new generation of pilots to the history carried by Cruise’s Maverick.
That same year, he starred in the television miniseries The Offer, playing producer Albert S. Ruddy. The series dramatises the making of The Godfather, shifting the focus from a fictional military mission to the challenges of bringing a film into production.
Marriage to Keleigh Sperry
Miles Teller and Keleigh Sperry met at a party for the Black Keys in 2013. They became engaged in 2017 and married in Maui, Hawaii, in September 2019.
In Vogue’s account of their Maui wedding, the couple described their relationship and celebration. They exchanged personal vows during a church ceremony before holding a reception on the island.
Teller has continued to discuss his marriage in interviews. While promoting Eternity in November 2025, he told People that their wedding vows reflected an intention to spend their lives together. In February 2026, Sperry marked his 39th birthday with a public tribute.
Their relationship also predates several of his most widely recognised roles: they met before Whiplash was released and married before Top Gun: Maverick reached cinemas.
Recent films: The Gorge, Eternity and Michael
In The Gorge, released by Apple in February 2025, Teller stars opposite Anya Taylor-Joy as one of two trained operatives stationed on opposite sides of a mysterious gorge. Their assignment requires them to watch for a hidden threat, while a relationship develops across the distance separating their towers.
Scott Derrickson directed the film, which also features Sigourney Weaver. Teller additionally received an executive-producer credit.
Later in 2025, he starred in David Freyne’s Eternity with Elizabeth Olsen and Callum Turner. The romantic fantasy imagines an afterlife in which people must choose where to spend eternity. Olsen’s Joan faces a decision between the husband she shared her life with, played by Teller, and her first love, played by Turner.
In 2026, Teller appeared as entertainment lawyer John Branca in Michael, with Jaafar Jackson portraying Michael Jackson. It added another real-life figure to his filmography.
Paper Tiger and his 2026 work
Miles Teller’s 2026 projects also include Paper Tiger, written and directed by James Gray. The official Cannes listing confirms that the film competed at the festival and credits Teller as Irwin Pearl, alongside Adam Driver as Gary Pearl and Scarlett Johansson as Hester Pearl.
The story follows two brothers whose involvement in a criminal scheme places their family relationships under pressure.
Discussing the role with Vanity Fair in May 2026, Teller spoke about the challenge of playing a father and drawing on examples from his own upbringing. It is a role centred on family responsibilities, following earlier performances as students, young professionals and servicemen—a concrete change in the characters now appearing across his career.
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