Miles Teller talks problems with Fantastic Four and auditioning for Han Solo

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

I'd assume by now that everyone and their narcoleptic dog has a passing familiarity with the mess that was FANTASTIC FOUR. Fox's attempt to reboot the franchise with a promising new director and a new young cast didn't go nearly as well as they had hoped, and many people involved in the production have attempted to explain just what went wrong. Miles Teller, who played Reed Richards in the reboot, stopped by Josh Horowitz’s happysadconfused podcast (via Collider) recently and the topic of FANTASTIC FOUR was brought up. Miles Teller said that he didn't have any apprehensions signing up for FANTASTIC FOUR as he said that the director, producers, and cast were all solid in his eyes. However, as we know, things didn't go quite as planned.

People think that when you make something like a Fantastic Four that doesn’t do well, people think ‘Oh you phoned it in’ and it couldn’t be more untrue. You work harder on the bad films, or the films that turn out maybe not the way you intended, but you work harder because something’s not working. And I thought it was kind of unjustly critiqued that way; there are even bigger bombs if you’re looking at how much money went into the production and then what they reaped back. But I think it’s unfortunate a movie like that becomes kind of a scarlet letter on a resume when so many talented people worked really hard and maybe a handful of people took it in a negative direction. But so many people worked really hard on that that are so talented, and that's just the way it goes.

It's definitely not an unusual thing in the movie-making business, but the FANTASTIC FOUR script was frequently in a state of flux. When asked what the lesson would be for the next project, Miles Teller said that unfortunately no matter who you are, it's rare that the script is in the place that you want it to be from day one.

I think it was Clooney who said you can make a bad movie out of a good script, you can’t make a good movie out of a bad script, and that’s very true. So I would say, if they’re telling you maybe your part’s not as big and they say, "Oh you’re gonna be bigger in the sequel" or "Oh we’re gonna rewrite" and "Yeah we’re gonna take in all these notes," if you’re in a position where you can say "hold off I’m not signing off on this dotted line until this script is exactly where you want it," then you’re in a very fortunate position. Because I know actors that have been in literally Oscar-nominated/Oscar-winning performances that told me the script was a struggle every day to get it to a place that [they] wanted it, and [they] were always fighting for the best version of it.

It's no secret that Miles Teller has auditioned, along with every other young male in Hollywood, for the role of Han Solo in the upcoming Han Solo spin-off which deals with the origin of the character; in fact, earlier this week he was one of several names included on the new short-list for the role alongside Alden Ehrenreich, Jack Reynor, Taron Egerton, and Dave Franco. While he obviously couldn't give any details on his audition(s), he did reveal that he never actually got around to watching any of the original STAR WARS films until just last year. Grab your torches.

I had never even seen any of the original Star Wars movies until maybe a month before or a couple weeks before my first audition because I was like, "I should check this out" (laughs). It holds up and I just love Harrison Ford, I think that’s a great character. I love his brand, I mean so many guys would’ve played that part so wrong and he has humor at the right times. Harrison Ford is a very big actor, when you see the facial expressions and the things he does he goes big, but he’s just always the coolest guy in the room and he’s got all of those great qualities.

It's a little strange to encounter someone whose never seen STAR WARS in this day and age, but I suppose it's better late than never. Mile Teller's most recent project is THE DIVERGENT SERIES: ALLIGIANT, which hit theaters today and you can read a review from our own Chris Bumbray right here.