LOS ANGELES – If 2022 was an all-time year for Miles Teller professionally and as a sports fan, 2023 has a chance to be even better. The 35-year-old saw critical acclaim for his role as Rooster in Top Gun: Maverick, which was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. But his favorite teams enjoyed intense success as well, between the Phillies magical run to the World Series, the Sixers making the move to acquire James Harden (and looking like a tough out in the Playoffs), and the Eagles’ regular season dominance rolling into a Super Bowl berth.
Teller is sharing that success — and his intense fandom — with his wife Keleigh, who joined Miles in shooting Bud Light’s Super Bowl ad this year. The pair have enjoyed incredibly memorable moments, whether that’s in Hawaii, at a Phillies game, or at home with their dog Bugsy, and are as appreciative as ever of the chance to spend time with each other and their loved ones. The opportunity to be in his first Super Bowl ad was a career highlight for Miles, but to do so with his partner (and Bugsy) was even more special.
The pair took some time on set of the Super Bowl spot to chat through their ideal Super Bowl spread, what it meant to be in a Super Bowl commercial, and how it feels to be a Philly fan as the city takes over the sports universe.
A Super Bowl ad is one of those things that – no matter what you do, sports, music, entertainment – you put on a bucket list if you want to be accessible, visible, all of that. I mean, I grew up wanting to be in a Super Bowl ad.
Miles Teller: It’s not too late.
No, it’s not.
It’s never too late.
Career pivot.
Yeah.
What does it mean to you guys? Especially to have that moment be together, which I know that’s got to be so special.
I think for us, that was the really exciting part, is that they said, look, well, first of all, when Bud Light comes to you and wants to put you in a Super Bowl commercial, that’s very flattering. And I think for us, just the fact that film is forever. It’s a moment in time. It’s –
Keleigh: A time capsule.
Miles: Yeah. It’s Keleigh and I, and our dog is in here, and they modeled the set after our house. I hope that the sincerity of the spot comes through, because that’s what the production has felt like for us.
Keleigh, getting that chance, I know a lot of the creative endeavors that you have, you’re always working to be that creative person, but to see the shoots, to be around it, but then to be on it, juggling everything from challenges to additional opportunities. Do you have a greater appreciation the more you see more of what Miles is doing, but also as it works with the stuff that you’re trying to do?
Yeah. It’s very different. I have a lot more respect in general, just of his technicalities, what he’s doing, and it’s really fun.
Miles: It’s a lot. It is a very technical enterprise when you’re filming.
Keleigh: It’s very technical.
Miles: But just watching her, I get more nervous for her than I do for myself.
Keleigh: I know.
Miles: But she’s doing a great job.
No mustache though, for the shoot?
No, no full mustache. No.
Keleigh: He’s on a new film –
Miles: I’m on a new train.
In terms of Super Bowls past, what do you guys usually do for the Super Bowl? I know it’s been weird the last couple of years, but as we start to entertain again, it’s important to get people together. It’s important to be with our families, safely obviously. It’s important to crack open drinks and be able to share those in person, not on Zoom anymore.
Miles: Yeah. I mean, we usually host a get-together of sorts. I think we have a pretty good cheese board. Some good snacks.
Keleigh: Always.
Miles: I mean, we were at the Super Bowl when the Eagles won. That was the best Super Bowl party. That was the best Super Bowl party we’ve ever had. But we host and we have a good time.
Was that the best sporting event that you guys think you’ve been to? I mean, obviously there’s some bias for Philly.
Keleigh: Yeah. People had gone their whole life without seeing the Eagles win the Super Bowl. And against Tom Brady?
How do you feel about the Phillies off season so far?
Miles: It was awesome. I’m on set right now, obviously, and there’s a lot of Dodger fans, and so they’re sad to see Trea Turner go. But the Phillies, it all starts at the top and their ownership. John Middleton really cares about his fans and you see it with the payroll that he’s willing to shell out for that team. It’s a really good team on paper. And Philly fans are some of the best fans in the world.
Getting to be a part of that playoff run, you guys had fun. You’ve got family there. You’ve got friends. And did that bring you guys closer together? I mean, sports are a weird thing. If you’re not in that world all the time, it can be a little intimidating, but then when you get moments like that, it feels special.
Keleigh: When we are home, we go to a lot of baseball games. We’ll go to spring training, and then we were at the stadium for the Phillies every day at 4:00 p.m. for BP. And then we wouldn’t get out of there until like 12:30 [a.m.]. Go talk to John Middleton. And Miles was, I think, the best week of your life?
Miles: It was pretty good.
Keleigh: “It was pretty good.” [Laughs.]
Miles: It was pretty sweet. I think I was a temporary mascot for the Phillies.
Keleigh: Oh, yeah. A hundred percent.
Miles: Me and the Phanatic bunking up.
Keleigh: Yeah. It was magical, honestly. Especially the first game. Yeah, having those moments.
And your dad mistaken for Bruce Springsteen?
Miles: Yeah, they showed Bruce Springsteen, which was my dad. The boss was there, Bruce was there. And then they showed me, and then they cut back to my dad and it said, “Not Bruce Springsteen.”
Keleigh: That was good. That was funny.
Miles: They had a sense of humor on the jumbotron.
Is your dad a Bruce fan?
Miles: Oh, who’s not?
In terms of just the way that this season has been for the Eagles, what does that mean? Especially when you consider the moment Philly is in sports-wise all around? It feels like this is the run that LA was on a couple years ago.
Miles: Every couple of years, Philly reminds people that they are a major sports city, and when they all click at the same time … I mean, Philly fans don’t need much of a reason to get pretty rowdy, but it’s been pandemonium up there and they’re looking really good. Jalen Hurts, I think, has proved a lot of people wrong. The entire team has.
I know you guys love Hawaii. What is it about that place that makes it so special for you both?
Miles: I think they’ve maintained a lot of the originality of it. Obviously they have to cater to tourism a bit. But really, there’s so much respect for the land. I don’t know. There’s a certain magic about it. And also I think it’s nice places shut down at a certain time. It really allows you to kind of connect to the environment. And yeah, there’s the Mana. I think that’s a real thing.
Keleigh: I really do.
And Keleigh, you said you grew up going there too?
Yeah. I brought Miles in probably the second year we were dating, so eight or nine years ago.
Miles: But your family’s done Thanksgiving out there.
Keleigh: Yeah, it’s our main go-to.
Miles: Their dad has a timeshare.
Keleigh: I have a lot of siblings. Yeah, we all kind of go out there. But we’ve been going since I was two. I think it was my first trip. And then we brought him and he fell in love with it.
And then you start bringing friends, and then it becomes your place together.
Keleigh: Everyone loves it.
Miles: Yeah, for sure, because I grew up on the east coast. We never went to Maui.
Would you have actually gone to UNC if you were playing baseball, like Project X? Did you have a college in mind that you wanted to go to?
Miles: I don’t know. Anywhere that would’ve taken me. Yeah. But I don’t know. I say I went D1 in acting. I think there comes a point, everybody’s like, they got to give up on it.
You give it up.
Miles: Give up on that dream.
Do you have any other big time dreams? Any other big things that you had given up for acting?
I would say I started out playing a lot of music and then playing a lot of sports and acting was something that came much later. But you can act your whole life.
That’s true.
As long as somebody’s hiring you and people care to watch you, you can do it literally until you’re dead.
Who was the best football player on the set in Maverick?
Tom Cruise.
Tom?
Yeah.
He’s a monster.
Yeah, he’s the best.
This interview has been briefly edited and condensed for clarity.