Does Miles Teller Really Play The Drums?

If you've seen the Oscar-nominated drama Whiplash, you probably left the theater with the following thoughts. First, "HOLY INTENSITY!!!" and floating behind that reaction a vague wonder about whether the film's star, Miles Teller, was actually playing the drums. Does Miles Teller play the drums? It would be hard to use a body double convincingly for something like this, and it didn't look phony at all. Also, if it wasn't him, I will be supremely disappointed.

As it turns out, the 27-year-old does plays the drums, and it's really him playing in the movie. So you can go back to being EXTREMELY impressed by Teller's musical chops.

If you aren't familiar with the story line of the film, Teller plays a talented young drummer who enrolls at one of the country's most competitive music schools. He works closely with a legendary instructor (played by J.K. Simmons) whose borderline sociopathic methods push his students to the brinks of excellence and sanity. The film won the Grand Jury and Audience prizes at Sundance in 2014, and has garnered five Academy Award nominations.

Teller sat down with Jimmy Fallon to talk about the movie, and the talk show host got right down to asking him about his musical background. In addition to confirming that it was really him playing the drums, Teller shared with Fallon that he's self-taught. Teller started at age 15, meaning he's been playing percussion for 12 years. He explains everything to Fallon in the interview. Not to mention, he shows off one of the very first pictures of a young Miles behind his brand new drum set. GAWW!!

Need further proof? Here he is, totally tearing it up.

Given that his family was musical, it's no surprise that he has a natural rhythm. Also, the fact that he got into playing the drums because of the "cool" factor is such a teenage boy thing to do. Welp, it all certainly worked out for the best!