Miles Teller

In Whiplash (2014), Miles Teller gives Andrew enough pride to make sympathy awkward. The jazz drummer wants to excel, and Teller allows that desire to make him unpleasant without asking us to forgive it because his teacher behaves worse. His face can look tough and almost childlike, a useful quality in parts that need determination and vulnerability at once. We rate him most highly when he allows a character to be difficult company, even while making the effort and hurt plain.

The early attention came with The Spectacular Now (2013), before Whiplash made the breakthrough. His credits broadened to include the Divergent trilogy (2014–2016), Fantastic Four (2015) and War Dogs (2016). Not every move paid off: Fantastic Four received poor reviews. Top Gun: Maverick (2022) brought renewed mainstream prominence, with Teller contributing emotional weight and camaraderie to an ensemble.

Damien Chazelle gives us the clearest use of Teller's strengths in Whiplash, putting his determination up against J.K. Simmons's compelling bully, Fletcher. Teller practised the drums for months, yet the performance offers more than proof that he has done the homework. Andrew's pride keeps the contest uncomfortable: Teller will not make him wholly innocent simply to make the teacher easier to condemn. We were ashamed of laughing at Simmons's tirades, which make a teacher's abuse horribly entertaining. Our reservation about the film remains its narrow interest in ambition beyond the pain a student can withstand; Teller makes that limitation easier to accept, without removing it.

Michael (2026) offers a much quieter assignment: John Branca, the calm man helping Michael Jackson take charge of his affairs. Teller supplies the steadiness Antoine Fuqua's authorised biography asks for, though there is little here of the friction that makes Andrew interesting. The film's straightforward rise leaves him playing a reassuring presence, and calm competence cannot repair its unwillingness to pursue a difficult story. We would not ask him to make Branca more abrasive merely to attract attention, but the part gives us less reason to keep watching him. Start with Whiplash, provided a restful evening is not the requirement.