Looking Like Elvis Presley: Miles Teller

“They've never cast anyone who looks less like Elvis than Michael,” says Jerry Schilling. “Yet he really captures the inner Elvis. He did my friend justice. He may be the best Elvis of all time.”

The original meeting between President Richard Nixon and Elvis Presley occurred on December 21, 1970 at the White House. Spacey studied photos and news footage to understand that Nixon was “physically uncomfortable in his own body” and listened to phone calls and tapes to understand the rhythms of Nixon’s private speaking voice.

“Nobody looks like Elvis,” says Liza Johnson, director of Elvis and Nixon. “It's harder to look like Elvis in 1955, when he had the most beautiful face, but at any point the gap in likeness is not something you can win.” Schilling had to push the Elvis & Nixon screenwriters to capture Presley’s human side. The movie shows how Presley revels in fame's indulgences yet he's acutely aware of his isolation and is consumed by it. One scene the writers added has Elvis commenting to Schilling about the hairspray, black dye and facial cream required to create his public persona. 

“I become a thing. I become an object,” says Shannon-as-Elvis. Shannon says of the real Presley: “They buried him so deep under gold, jewelry and money, flashbulbs, stage makeup, screaming fans.” Once Shannon started studying the part, he couldn't help falling in love with Presley. “He was a deep guy who was always searching for something. One of his favorite books was Siddhartha, which I never would have guessed.” Source: europe.newsweek.com

Elvis Presley in Jailhouse Rock (1957)

Miles Teller: “I want to play Young Elvis. They’ve never gotten that right. It’s easy to do wrecked, bloated, and drug-addicted. I want to play characters who have the fever and win. It’s harder.”

Miles Teller: Elvis Presley? That’s the one I really want. I kind of look the part. I think he and I look alike and do a lot of similar things well: sing, dance, and I think he played sports. Just gotta make my accent a little more ‘Memphis’. There are a couple of scripts floating around, but I feel they’ve never really got [an Elvis biopic] right yet. You’ve got to see him rocking and rolling, not as this awkward kid. I want to do the Walk The Line version; they want to do the Hairspray version. But hopefully it’ll happen. I just need to find the right filmmaker. Source: www.shortlist.com

Miles Teller

Elvis Presley.

Miles Teller.

Elvis Presley.

Miles Teller.

Elvis Presley.

In "The Spectacular Now" Miles Teller has a strong resemblance to Elvis in some sequences:

Also it's interesting that Miles Teller seems to be a very family-oriented guy, with a playful sense of humor and musical/acting talent. Even in his affectionate photos with Keleigh Sperry (his stunning model girlfriend who is as eye-catching as Priscilla Presley), there is sometimes a similar vibe:

 Miles Teller and Keleigh Sperry at the 2016 MTV Movie Awards on April 9, 2016 in Los Angeles.

Miles Teller and Keleigh Sperry at the 'Fantastic Four' New York Premiere, August 2015.

Elvis and Priscilla on their wedding day in Las Vegas, May 1, 1967.

Aaron Swartz (The Idealist), Mr. Robot (Season 2 Trailer): Hacker Connection Changing the World

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) was the law that prosecutors deployed against Aaron Swartz, an internet activist who killed himself after a years-long legal battle centered around his decision to mass download academic journals. Swartz was hit with the law after he entered a network closet at MIT and mass downloaded millions of academic journals from JSTOR, a company that generally charges for access. Swartz was charged with essentially violating the terms of service of JSTOR; because the CFAA was applied, he faced years in prison. Swartz ultimately killed himself after a plea deal was rejected by prosecutors. Source: europe.newsweek.com

Aaron Swartz wanted to make the world a better place. Growing up in a computer-friendly home at the dawn of the internet era, he quickly became proficient in programming and coding and began to see all the possibilities that the online world could offer. The computer prodigy dropped out of North Shore Country Day after 9th grade. Why waste time in organized schooling when there was so much else that could be accomplished online? It became a pattern: Swartz later dropped out of Stanford after feeling discontent with the level of academic rigor. Eventually, he also left a lucrative job in Silicon Valley to pursue a career in activism. Source: www.techrepublic.com

David Foster Wallace was Swartz’s favorite fiction writer. He had started unraveling David Foster Wallace’s notoriously dense novel Infinite Jest. “He spent, like, entire weekends where he was mostly working on this plot summary of Infinite Jest,” Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman recalled. “He loved taking complex narratives and distilling their essences.” At the beginning of 2011, in a capsule review of a book about the Toyota Motor Corporation, Swartz wrote that “lean production” was “undoubtedly the greatest human art form,” “with sex running a close second,” he clarified. -"The Idealist: Aaron Swartz and the Rise of Free Culture on the Internet" (2016) by Justin Peters

Justin Peters: -It would be very hard to argue that the internet is more free right now than it was in 2003 in America. The thing that separated Aaron and how he chose to live his life from the rest of us was more sort of a lifelong conscious choice to work against his own best interests. That’s something we could all chose to do. By working against his own best interests, I mean that he was in Silicon Valley at the birth of social web. He was one of the first startups. Before he died, Aaron was working on this project called Secure Drop, which was a tool for leakers or whistleblowers to be able to securely and anonymously leak information. I think he would have been inspired by Snowden and probably would have tried to help empower other potential Snowdens out there. I think Snowden certainly falls in the same line of Swartz and the other data idealists. Source: www.inverse.com

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley play Edward Snowden and Lindsay Mills in "Snowden" (2016) directed by Oliver Stone


'Mr. Robot' Season 2 Trailer Promises to Change the World. "The truth is, we have more power than they think. The power to take action, to choose to do something," his character says. "Together, we change the world, change our future, and there's nothing they can do to stop us."

Rami Malek photographed by Eric Ray Davidson for The Hollywood Reporter (April 2016).

It sounds as if Elliott (Rami Malek) will be trying to galvanize potential followers into further action. "Elliott committed a crime in the first season, and we're gonna see the ramifications of that in the second season, I think that drives a lot about what the second season's all about," creator and showrunner Sam Esmail said. "And that's why there's the introduction of law enforcement that was kind of intentionally not shown in the first season, so that opens a whole new dimension there. And really I think the second season is about [Elliott and Mr. Robot] - that internal struggle, what does that look like, and how are they going to reconcile it?" "Mr. Robot" will return to USA Network for a second season this summer. Source: www.hngn.com

Shailene Woodley ("Be My Angel") video

Shailene Woodley ("Be My Angel") video.

Soundtrack: "Hippie Girl" by Ricky Ross, "Baby Baby" by The Vibrators and "Be My Angel" by Mazzy Star.

Miles Teller's and Shailene Woodley's first sex scene, "You Got What It Takes" video

James Ponsoldt (director of The Spectacular Now) was worried that Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley wouldn't get along after he saw them interact at a lunch he arranged. Teller was outgoing and energetic, while Woodley, though amused by Teller, was quiet and for the most part kept to herself unless she was spoken to. After the lunch was over and the director was driving away, he noticed Woodley and Teller talking in the parking lot - he later found out that the two of them spent two hours talking and getting to know each other. Teller and Woodley became close friends.

The Spectacular Now (2013) includes both Miles Teller's and Shailene Woodley's first sex scene. The sex scene was shot in a single, unbroken take that lasts well over two minutes.

Source: www.imdb.com

Sutter’s misadventures aren’t always benign, nor is the influence he has on his circle of friends entirely positive. He’s a good guy with a big heart, but, as his boss explains, he “just doesn't have a firm grasp on the concept of consequences.” In other words, an extremely tricky part to play in a movie. All of us were well aware if we didn’t get the right actor, we were dead in the water. Thank heaven for Miles Teller. But the role of Sutter required him to be charming, seductive, sweet, cutting, sarcastic, vulnerable, angry, and dangerous—often all at once. Source: www.thedailybeast.com

Shailene Woodley in Glamour (Netherlands) magazine, April 2016.

Miles Teller in Alpha magazine, 2015.


Miles Teller ("You Got What It Takes") video.

Adaptations from book to screen: 11.22.63 (James Franco) and The Spectacular Now (Miles Teller)

Hulu's miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's 11.22.63 released its final episode on Monday, a climax that saw James Franco's Jake make his attempt to prevent the assassination of President Kennedy, get a glimpse at how his actions changed the future and make a difficult decision involving Sadie (Sarah Gadon). While showrunner Bridget Carpenter and the series' production team had to make many changes from King's bestseller, the book's romantic, but profoundly bittersweet, ending was left intact, a rarity when it comes to King adaptations. Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com


11.22.63 - Ending Scene featuring James Franco as Jake Epping & Sarah Gadon as Sadie Dunhill.


Miles Teller: "Acting is such a high art, and coming from theater, I know how hard it is and respect the craft. I want to look back when it ends, and say I challenged myself. I wanted to be an actor you always remember, and those who are the great ones. That's just a personal journey that it's just you and your internal drive. The Spectacular Now was the best script I'd ever read. It had all those elements in it. He's a cool charming guy but with a lot of depth. In a lot shallower script, you wouldn't see the problems he's having, or the fact that he's searching for a father figure, and the broken home life that's revealed, and looking for guidance in life while just having that empty feeling. Sutter in the book is painted differently than how I was playing him. I was actually struggling to finish the entire book because I could see my image of Sutter getting a bit warped.

I tried to steer clear of it in the end. But it's such a well-written book. He says things like "I'm the Sutterman" and "Fabioloso" - I tried to work those things into the movie, but I couldn't say them with a straight face. Then a year later it came around again with James Ponsoldt, we met in a bar and had a couple drinks, and I got it I was excited, but nervous about being able to do it. It's for mature audiences even though it seems like a young adult story. It reminds you of your first love, that time in your life."

Miles Teller is magnetic. He's only been in a few movies - and a couple of those we will kindly skip over when doing future retrospectives about him - but in each of them he has been the beating heart of warmth, humanity and - most unusual these days - sheer naturalism. You don't even see Teller acting, he just is the character. Which means those who know him from Rabbit Hole or the surprisingly excellent Footloose remake will still be surprised by his performance as Sutter, the always buzzed, always cool boy at the heart of The Spectacular Now. It's a great role, and one that Teller invests with an extraordinary amount of nuance and truth. Source: www.esquire.com

Miles Teller "Tell Him" video. Roughly half an hour of pictures of Milles Teller, his co-stars (Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Anna Kendrick, Mackenzie Davis, Analeigh Tipton, etc.) and girlfriend Keleigh Sperry. Soundtrack: "Tell Him" by The Exciters, "Photograph" & "Smile" by Weezer, "Let It Bleed" by The Rolling Stones, "I Got Stung" & "Stuck on You" by Elvis Presley, "Crazy About My Baby" by Randy Newman, and "Ooh Wee Baby" by Jeff Barry.