Miles Teller ”impressed” director Jason Hall on set of ‘Thank You For Your Service’.
The 30-year-old actor portrays Adam Schumann in the drama film, and the 45-year-old creative mastermind has admitted he closely studied the dark-haired hunk in various other movies before giving him the role, and he decided to cast him in the production because he knew Teller had a ”craft” and great skill to bring to the movie, and Hall was blown away by his acting ability.
Speaking about the star to The Hollywood Reporter, Hall said: ”I have followed his career and I’ve watched this kid with incredible charisma, but also you could tell he had a craft and he had a skill set that he brought to it. I was so impressed with Miles. We asked him in a way to do stuff that he’d not done before. He gives a very subtle performance here, and he gives a really grown up performance, too.”
Although Hall has praised Teller for his performance in ‘Whiplash’, he believes his role in the war movie saw him bring ”real detail to the job”, because he had to convey deeper emotions ”behind his eyes at all times.”
Hall continued: ”He was very much a kid [in ‘Whiplash’], and it’s a great performance and a great film, but it’s a very external performance. It’s a very physical performance and it doesn’t ask for a lot of extreme subtlety. This requires him to have a war going on behind his eyes at all times. He brought some real detail to the job and I took him out and we went hunting with Adam Schumann, the real guy [the movie is based on]. He got to know him, and it was a fantastic experience for him to connect with this guy. Miles is from Florida. It’s not like Miles came from Palos Verdes. Miles came from a part of Florida where all of his friends are either soldiers or they work some blue-collar job. He would either be a soldier, if he was lucky he’d be playing on some minor league baseball team, or he’d be putting up dry wall.”
The new biopic, which is based on a war veteran, also stars comedian Amy Schumer, and Hall has revealed the ‘Trainwreck’ actress approached him first and asked if she could feature in the movie.
The creative mastermind explained: ”Two years ago, she [Amy] wasn’t as ubiquitous as she is now. Two years ago, when we started making it, you knew who she was and she approached us and said she wanted to do it. We were shocked she wanted to be a part of it, but she really brings the same physicality that Amanda has and the same look. You could put her next to Amanda with the hair she has in the film and you could think they were sisters. She brought a real seriousness to this and she applied herself and she wanted to be a part of what the film says.”