Yesterday, you could practically feel Miles Teller‘s publicity team shaking with rage when quotes from the actor’s W Magazine interview, in which he said "Divergent" made him feel "dead inside" and that he took the gig "business reasons," emerged online. Within hours of the interview breaking, the actor tweeted a clarification and said he was "proud" to be part of the franchise, and now he’s explained further to the LA Times what he really meant.
First, Teller reveals the context for the question he was asked, saying the magazine asked why he took a smaller part in "Divergent" after he took leading roles in indie films. And he explains that playing a bad guy and working on a movie with an international footprint "were the ‘business reasons’ which every actor weighs; it’s not just the size of the part."
"And if I said ‘dead inside,’ I meant just burnt out and fatigued from doing my first big-budget lengthy shoot, and four months was a long time and I just wanted to relax afterwards," Teller continued.
So there you go. "Divergent" was a career move, but he likes the series, and like any actor in Hollywood, he’s looking out for his career interests. Still, it’s a bit of a bummer to see a rising actor suddenly have his comments managed and massaged by PR, though we reckon there’s an Oscar campaign for "Whiplash" to think about, and it’s best to douse those fires before they spark up into something bigger. Your thoughts? Let us know below.
