Top Gun: Maverick’s Miles Teller Reacts To His Shirtless Dance Going Viral

Shirtless Miles Teller in Top Gun: Maverick
(Image credit: Paramont Pictures)

The original Top Gun movie had some incredible fighter jet action, but if there’s one scene that everybody really remembers, it may be the shirtless volleyball sequence. In a similar vein, while Top Gun: Maverick is being lauded for its practical action, a lot of fans are also talking about the beach football scene, and one moment of Miles Teller dancing is going viral as a GIF.

Talking with Extra about his other brand new movie that is also directed by Joseph Kosinski, Netflix’s Spiderhead, Teller says that the little dance move is something that he and some friends have been known to do from time to time just for fun. He certainly had no idea that it would go viral, because he didn’t know the move had made it into the movie until he saw it. Teller explains…

That’s really a dance that me and my buddies have kind of done when everybody’s dancing very seriously. It was just always something we would do to kind of just break the ice a little bit. I didn’t even know that the camera was on me at that point.

Apparently there's just something about shirtless dudes in Top Gun movies. Certainly the scene exists as a sort of homage to the volleyball scene,  but if that's all it was it likely wouldn't be getting as much attention the second time around.

If Miles Teller didn’t know the camera was on him then it shows how much fun the cast was really having filming the “dogfight football” sequence. One does not start dancing on the beach by themselves unless they’re in a pretty good mood. The scene was meant to bring the characters closer together in the story and it sounds like it did that pretty well for actors as well.

While it’s far too early to tell if the beach football scene, or Miles Teller’s little dance move specifically, will stand the test of time in the way that the beach volleyball scene has, the fact that Top Gun : Maverick has become a massive box office hit in its own right certainly gives the indication that the movie will be remembered. If that happens, Teller is certainly ok with it, as he says…

We’ll it’s Top Gun. Hopefully you get an iconic moment or two.

Miles Teller may have two iconic moments when it’s all said and done. In addition to his memorable beach scene, he also learned to play the Jerry Lee Lewis classic “Great Balls of Fire” himself on the piano, which was apparently tougher than he expected.

Miles Teller’s dance moment will sweep the internet for now, and while it probably won’t last too long before being replaced by the next meme, fans will probably remember it each time they watch Top Gun: Maverick again. 

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.