How Miles Teller Fought Past Car Accident Scars That Nearly Derailed His Career

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Miles Teller often shares how grateful he is to be alive. He’s explained in interviews, such as one with ABC News, that his life took a dramatic turn when he was 20 years old. He was a passenger in a car when the driver lost control.

It was a horrific crash – the car actually flipped over eight times! I heard that Teller was ejected through a window and landed around fifty feet away. Apparently, he was unconscious and badly injured. He’s mentioned that his friend genuinely thought he hadn’t survived the impact, which is just… chilling to think about.

A terrible accident left him scarred on his face and neck, and those scars presented challenges early in his acting career.

Teller explained to ABC News that his friend lost control of the car while driving around 80 miles per hour. The car flipped multiple times—about eight, he said—and Teller was thrown out the window. He woke up about 50 feet from the wreckage, unconscious and covered in blood.

He explained that he still bears the physical reminders of the accident, including scars and even two fragments lodged in his face. Doctors advised against removing these fragments, fearing it would worsen the scarring. For years afterward, he underwent painful laser treatments hoping to minimize the visible marks.

Miles Teller recently told Collider that his facial scars sometimes made it difficult to land roles. He explained that while casting directors often praised his acting, they frequently felt the scars didn’t fit the characters they were trying to cast. He recalls them saying he was a talented actor, but the characters weren’t meant to have scars.

Things started to turn around for Teller when he was cast in the 2010 film “Rabbit Hole” by director John Cameron Mitchell. Teller said Mitchell didn’t focus on his scars as a negative thing; in fact, he welcomed them. Teller recalls Mitchell saying, “I love your scars. They add an intriguing element, and we don’t need to provide an explanation.” This role marked Teller’s first film appearance and provided the opportunity he’d been waiting for.

Teller has reflected that a difficult experience early in his life influenced the types of roles he sought. He began prioritizing characters facing significant emotional challenges, and soon started landing those parts. This led to his breakthrough role in the 2014 film “Whiplash,” directed by Damien Chazelle. The movie tells the story of a young drummer driven to his limits by his harsh teacher, portrayed by J.K. Simmons.

Teller has often spoken about how seriously he was injured in the crash and how close he came to not making it. He makes light of being rushed to the hospital instead of walking off, but he’s truly grateful to have survived with relatively minor injuries. He’s said, “I’m just really fortunate to have walked away… without any lasting, debilitating damage.” Although his scars were difficult to deal with at the beginning of his career, they eventually became a significant part of his personal story and helped him become memorable.

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2025-11-24 15:45