Milles Alexander Teller was born in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, the son of Merry (ne Flowers), a real estate agent, and Mike Teller, a nuclear plant engineer. His parents are from Carneys Point, New Jersey. He has two older sisters.His paternal grandfather was of Russian Jewish descent, while his other ancestry is English, Irish, Polish, and French. He lived in several places as a child, because of his father's career, spending time in Citrus County, Florida, after moving from Cape May, New Jersey. Teller attended Lecanto High School where he played the saxophone, was a drummer for a church youth group band, and was president of the drama club. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. He was in a near-fatal car accident in 2007, leaving him with multiple scars on his face and neck. Before making his feature film debut Teller appeared in many short films. He made his debut in 2010's Rabbit Hole. Teller appeared in the stage musical Footloose in high school. Years later, he was cast in the film remake of Footloose starring Kenny Wormald, in which he played the same character as in his high school musical. In 2013, he starred in 21 Over, written and directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore.

• Whiplash (2014)

  
• Divergent (2014)

  
• Insurgent (2015)

  
• The Spectacular Now (2013)

  
• Fantastic Four (2015)