Miles Teller Honored with Vanguard Award from SCAD

Last night at the Savannah Film Fest, presented by Savannah School of Art and Design (SCAD), Miles Teller brought his whole family out to see Bleed for This. Teller was honored with their Vanguard award for his work in the film, written and directed by Ben Younger. The cast joined Teller on stage for a Q&A after the screening, which was well received by the crowd here.

Bleed for This is an interesting challenge for Oscar voters and one of the few male performances that involves physical transformation. What’s most remarkable about Bleed for This, though, is that it was shot in a mere 20 days. What Teller undergoes in that short of time is nothing short of amazing. The film has not yet been widely seen or reviewed so we’ll have to wait to see what sort of traction he picks up in terms of an Oscar nomination. His co-star, Aaron Eckhart, seems a potentially strong bet for supporting as he is virtually unrecognizable in the part of coach and trainer.

Despite a hit job against Teller some time last year, I have always been struck by what a nice person he is, how humble and hard working. The hive mind of film twitter and the gossipy industry seems to want to pin some sort of asshole badge on him but if you ever spend any kind of time with him, whether in a setting like this or in a Q&A or even sitting behind him in a bar in Savannah, the person the media wants to portray him as simply doesn’t exist. The beast needs to be fed, I suppose, and the village always needs a sacrifice to make it pure and righteous but it would be a shame if that happened to Teller for no good reason except that people were bored.

Either way, he gives a strong and moving performance in Bleed for This, which was exec produced by Martin Scorsese.