‘Top Gun: Maverick’: Miles Teller’s Breathing Exercises During G-Force Training Are Terrifying to Watch
Top Gun: Maverick is one of 2022’s biggest blockbusters, a movie that was nearly three decades in the making. While Tom Cruise is a major draw in the film, reprising his role as a hotshot pilot, the new cast members are also making waves.
Foremost among the new cast members is Miles Teller, who portrays Rooster, the son of Maverick’s long-dead best friend Goose. Teller is a standout in the film, with critics and fans singing his praises – but the young actor was initially quite uncertain about taking on the challenge.
Miles Teller was initially hesitant to join the cast of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’
Teller has been a fan-favorite Hollywood actor for quite some time – but a role in Top Gun: Maverick would put a lot of attention on the up-and-coming star. As Teller revealed in a recent interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, he had a lot of reservations about taking on the part of Rooster after he was approached by the film’s director, Joseph Kosinski.
“I actually was fairly uncertain whether I wanted to do it,” Teller admitted.
“I look back at that now and I think that’s very foolish, but at the time that is where I was at. I just didn’t know if I wanted to be a part of this thing I knew was going to be massive because it changes your life.”
Teller went on to detail how he didn’t think that the script for the film was in “the best shape” and that ultimately, he put his faith in Cruise. “I feel really lucky that he wanted to share that world with me,” Teller said.
What breathing exercises did Miles Teller practice for his role as Rooster?
Cruise was insistent that Top Gun: Maverick look as realistic as possible – and that included putting the main cast through rigorous flight training in actual planes. Teller has openly discussed how difficult some of the stunts were, calling out one stunt that involved a plane hurtling toward the ground at an insane speed.
“You’re heading down, and at the last second, you yank up, and it’s really tough for the pilot. It’s something they train in all the time, but it was the first time we’d done a maneuver like that, and I completely stopped acting,” Teller revealed, noting that he thought he might “die” during the scene.
Teller worked hard to be able to hold it together for the flight training sequences, from working out to build muscle to perfecting his breathing in order to maintain his G-force tolerance. Teller showed off some of his breathing exercises in a sitdown with The Film Zone, and while the exercises themselves are slightly terrifying to witness, they helped Teller to build up the stamina he needed to make the flight scenes not only realistic but bearable for him as well.
Miles Teller worked hard to get fit for ‘Top Gun: Maverick’
As Teller told Men’s Journal, there was even more work behind the scenes to make Top Gun: Maverick as gritty and realistic as possible. “Before we got into the jets, we had to pass the Naval Aviation Survival Training course in San Diego,” Teller told the publication.
The actor revealed that before filming each flight sequence, the actors and the stunt team would get briefed over each movement very specifically, ensuring seamless execution. In a June 2022 interview with Adam Ray for his About Last Night podcast, Teller noted that Cruise stayed involved through every part of the process, remaining on set even when he wasn’t filming and watching the stunts go down.
As for Teller, he got ripped for the role of Rooster, gaining 20 pounds of muscle through an intense training regimen with celebrity fitness coach Jason Walsh. Teller got down to only seven percent body fat through a combination of hitting the gym regularly and following a very strict diet. It all worked together to help make Top Gun: Maverick a summer blockbuster, a film that all ages can enjoy and appreciate.
