Miles Teller On Flight Training For ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ And Working With Tom Cruise

Miles Teller is no stranger to a little buzz. Since making his mark in Whiplash, the actor has always managed to stay a part of the “ones to watch” conversation. So it is no surprise that he is also involved in the most highly-anticipated movie of the decade: Top Gun: Maverick.

“There is no green screen in a Top Gun movie,” says Teller to Men’s Journal. “Every shot, every stunt, was the result of the work, the real sweat, that we all put into it. The production was over the course of a full year, which was definitely the longest shoot I have ever been a part of.”

Teller assures us that Maverick, now scheduled to release summer of 2021,will be worth the wait for all of those Top Gun fans. The actor decompressed after the intense filming by taking a trip out to Finland late last year with the founders of The Long Drink, the canned-cocktail company he recently became a co-owner and ambassador for. Now he is back to work, and back in the gym, preparing for prison drama Spiderhead with Chris Hemsworth.

We discussed flight training, living on an aircraft carrier, prepping for the next gig, and how a good Finnish sauna-cocktail mix is a great form of recovery.

Once you knew you had the Top Gun gig, when did the flight training start?

I had about three months of flight training before starting the movie. That time was important to get comfortable with the crafts but also to build up our G-force tolerance, because all of the aerial elements were shot practically. The training started in a Cessna, and moved to an Extra 300, a single-prop aerobatics craft, where you start to improve your G-tolerance. From there we got into an L-39 Albatros, flying with these guys called The Patriots, who are the civilian equivalent to the Blue Angels.

Right off the bat, I am flying this fucking plane myself with The Patriots in formation with three other planes around, which just felt insane. I had one jet right above me, so close, and then planes on both wings, then we did a loop while holding that formation. I was holding the stick, and I landed the plane as well.

I stepped out of the craft and said, “Guys, we just met, there is no way you should trust me that much.” I wouldn’t have trusted me.