Miles Teller certainly felt the need for speed while working on “Top Gun: Maverick,” but he also felt the need to go to the doctor after his body started breaking out in hives. And it’s a good thing he did, because the doctor found three different toxic materials — including jet fuel — in the actor’s blood.
During an appearance on “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” Teller recounted the story of how, after one particular day of filming, he touched back down on the ground and felt absolutely terrible. “We landed, I’m just like, ‘Man, I’m not feeling too good,’” Teller said. “I was really hot and I just started itching like crazy. So I got out of the jet, and I’m just covered in hives. Like, head to toe. Instantly, I go to a doctor, I do a blood analysis, I’m in an oatmeal bath that night.”
The actor admitted that, generally speaking, he does have pretty sensitive skin. But he knew in this instance that some medical attention was required.
When the results came in after visiting the doctor, Teller was informed that they had found “flame-retardant, pesticides, and jet fuel” in his bloodstream. The actor noted that while he initially freaked out, he almost immediately calmed down: “I thought, wait a second, this is actually kinda cool.”
So really, Teller was pretty excited to be able to return to work the next day and fill in his co-stars. And apparently, Tom Cruise had a pretty Tom Cruise-y response.
“I go to set the next day and Tom‘s like, ‘How did it go Miles? What did they find?’” Teller recalled. “I was like, ‘Well, Tom, it turns out I have jet fuel in my blood.’ And without even skipping a beat Tom goes ‘Yeah, I was born with it, kid.’ So that was a very Tom moment for me.”
“There’s your Top Gun,” Meyers joked in response. You can watch Teller’s full recollection of the story in the video here and above.