Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Dustin Rowles | Celebrity | May 21, 2026
Many of you may recall that a little over a decade ago, Miles Teller — currently starring in Michael — gave an interview to Esquire around the time his Fantastic Four movie bombed spectacularly. In the interview, the journalist wrote that Teller was “kind of a dick” but would ultimately “charm the world with his dickishness.” It was a very popular interview at the time. We wrote about it. We made enough money off that post to go to Starbucks, like, 3 times.
It also left a certain impression of Teller that’s stuck around, and 2026 Teller doesn’t think that’s fair. He thinks the interview was mishandled, as he recently said on a press tour in support of his Cannes movie, Paper Tiger.
“That was so mishandled,” Teller said (via Variety). “The reason why I have not done profiles is because I said, ‘Wow, if I’m not doing this interview on camera, this person can misquote things or put things out of order or say things that didn’t happen.’ It felt like such a violation of what actually transpired.”
It’s worth noting that after the Esquire interview was published, Teller said a variation of the same thing on Twitter, writing, “@esquire couldn’t be more wrong. I don’t think there’s anything cool or entertaining about being a dick or an asshole. Very misrepresenting.”
“I told my team, ‘Guys, I don’t think I’m doing this again, because I’m reading this and this doesn’t sound like me to me. This is not life, so why would I ever want to be a part of something where they can just put that in?’”
Now look: That was 11 years ago. I’m willing to concede that Miles Teller is a different person than he was at 28. But when Miles Teller was 28? I’m pretty sure he was a dick. Here’s a line from that Esquire article. Tell me how it was misrepresented:
You’ve just told him, by way of making conversation, that according to legend the champagne coupe in your hand is shaped like Marie Antoinette’s left breast, and he tells you the highball glass is modeled after his c*ck. Then he tells the waitress the same thing.
I’m pretty sure that telling a female interviewer a glass is modeled after his penis is a dickish thing to say — especially since he then repeated it to the waitress. And we can all hear Miles Teller saying that in our heads, can’t we?
But 2026 Teller wants to distance himself from that “negativity.”
“So it’s unfortunate that being a good person, that doesn’t sell. People want to click on the negativity. If you go to bed and put your head on your pillow and how you treat people truly, that’s what matters. That [2015] interview was like 12 years ago.”
It was 11 years ago. Also: what does going to bed and putting your head on your pillow have to do with how you treat people? That’s not a rebuttal. That’s a Hallmark card someone left in a hot car.
Anyway, I’m glad he doesn’t do big magazine profiles anymore. Though I do wonder — was that his idea, or his people’s?
(Update)
(Full Disclosure: I am not a huge fan of what I know of Miles Teller, the person, but like Vince Vaughn (also probably kind of a dick), I have a real weakness for Miles Teller, the actor.)
