Friends For Eternity

Sharing an agent might be enough to put you on friendly terms in Hollywood, but sharing a sports team? That’s serious, friendship-cementing business — or at least it was for Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Miles Teller, Philly natives whose playful chemistry forms the heart of A24’s thoughtful new romantic comedy, Eternity. The actors had met at various work events before shooting the movie, though a tight production schedule meant they didn’t have much time to socialize while making it. But when they both happened to be in New Orleans this year after filming wrapped, watching their beloved Eagles win the Super Bowl, a special kind of football-fan sparks flew.

“That was a party, dude,” says Teller.

Did you get drunk together?

“Yeeeeeaaaaaaaaah,” Randolph bellows. “It was an unbelievable game. I’m so glad, honestly, that I experienced that in my life. It literally felt fake. I could not even believe it.”

Teller was so excited he made his way to the field post-victory. “I laid there and spread my arms in some confetti,” he says.

“Did you?” Randolph says, leaning back in disbelief.

“Yeah, I made a Super Bowl champion [snow] angel.”

She beams at him: “Aw, I love that.”

In Eternity, the pair play unlikely best friends. Larry (Teller) has just choked on a pretzel when he arrives in the afterlife, where he waits for his wife, Joan (Elizabeth Olsen), to join him and decide where to spend their now-infinite remaining days — only to realize when she gets there that Joan’s first husband, Luke (Callum Turner), is waiting for her too. Guiding Larry through this love triangle is Randolph’s Anna, an “afterlife coordinator” who helps him make sense of Joan’s indecision with blunt, but loving, honesty. Despite the leads’ who-will-she-choose romantic tension and the brotastic squabbling between Larry and Luke, it was the interplay between Anna and Larry that drew the biggest laughs in my screening.

“I had heard about him just being very down to earth and a consummate actor, [but] I didn’t know how playful he was,” says Randolph, who joined the cast in the months after she received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Holdovers.

Perhaps because of that dramatic performance, where Randolph plays a lonely and grieving mother working in the kitchen of a New England boarding school, Teller was surprised on set, too. “Honestly, I really didn’t know how funny Da’Vine was,” he says. “She’s really hysterical.”

“My wife and I are truly best friends, and I know that’s thrown around all the time, but the friendship really is what you should get to.”

When I sit down to talk to the two of them, they’re at the end of a New York leg of a grueling promotional schedule. “It’s such a gauntlet,” says Teller. He got thrown in the most extreme version of the promo grind a few years ago ahead of Top Gun: Maverick, in which he starred opposite Tom Cruise and which grossed nearly $1.5 billion globally. Not that he’s complaining. “I used to not care,” he says. “I was like, ‘I did this movie for me.’ But when you make a movie, you work so hard and nobody sees it, it’s a bummer.”

Still, he’s thinking ahead about how to unwind. “I already know I’m having a drink in 30 minutes. I’m going to start with a Gold Rush. Just bourbon, lemon, honey.”

One thing these pals won’t be doing to celebrate once this press tour is over: karaoke. “Triggers us,” says Randolph, half shuddering. “Hate it,” Teller quickly chimes in. “I hate it so much.”

This initially surprises me, given that Randolph is a classically trained opera singer — then I realize that’s probably why the fingernails-on-the-chalkboard effect cuts so deep for her. “People pick songs they know they can’t sing and they’re just screaming in the mic,” she says. “I don’t understand it.” She and Teller spend the next few minutes engaged in a passionate back-and-forth as they attempt to parse the psychological “why” of bad karaoke choices — the kind of lighthearted but secretly deep banter we see Larry and Anna engaging in in Eternity, and which you can easily picture unfolding between takes on set.

What’s it like creating platonic chemistry compared to creating romantic chemistry?

Teller: I think better.

Randolph: It’s more freeing. I enjoy it more because all the awkward stuff is not there. The nerves aren’t there, and you can really just be yourself. Well, the character’s self.

Teller: And really, it’s where you should get to. My wife and I are truly best friends, and I know that’s thrown around all the time. In the beginning there’s a bit of peacocking and you’re trying to impress and do all this stuff, and then friendship really is what you should get to.

Did you improvise any of the back and forth we see in the movie?

Randolph: Yeah, but the script was amazing. For me, the goal was just like, “I want to be the best friend that I could be to his character, giving advice as well as trying to lighten the mood.” I think it’s when you can have that trust and safety, [you] have that flexibility to be creative. So many beautiful things come out of it.

Teller: I really like this scene when Anna makes Larry think that they slept together. I wake up in bed, and the way Da’Vine was just laying looking at me — we did it a couple of times, just always cracking up.

Are there any movies in each other’s filmography that you particularly admire?

Randolph: I was really impressed by Whiplash. It really was the level of dedication that he had, and I was impressed by his age. I went to performing arts schools growing up, and I think what he captured so beautifully was that sense of the inner monologue of an artist’s process and the dedication of a musician specifically. I’m classically trained, so I know what that is. And I thought you just captured it so beautifully and how we beat ourselves up. I thought it was a very mature performance for…

Teller: …Miles.

Randolph: [Laughs] No, I was going to say [your] age. It felt very grounded and very mature.

Teller: Well, usually you don’t get that in your early 20s — you rarely get characters that have that kind of responsibility. And well, The Holdovers I remember because my grandparents were out staying with me, and we had just gotten into our new house and it was really cozy. And I just remember that film just felt like — I don’t want to say a throwback, I think Alexander Payne is phenomenal, but it just felt very cozy and warm and honestly, I think it should be on everyone’s rotation for the holidays. It really is such a sweet, endearing film.

Anna’s job in the movie is often to give advice. Are either of you advice givers in your friendship group?

Randolph: I am. It’s daunting. Like guys, come on, you know what to do. But I think I have always been like that. Sometimes I feel guilty because we work so much. When I am off duty, I really try to be present for my family and my friends, and so they really lean into it.

“I’ve learned in this career how to evaluate relationships better, and I’m actually healthier with it. Life is short. Let’s figure it out, and if we can’t, then that’s OK.”

I feel like I’m good at giving advice on career stuff or family stuff, but if it’s romantic stuff, I’m not going there. Terrifying.

Randolph: Socratic method is the way to go. I don’t want to be held liable for your relationship going south.

Teller: I’m just not a fan of gossip. I’ve never been. I just can’t stand it. I think in any work environment, especially working together for a while, people just say things, [but] I don’t freaking want to know. It’s different with friends, family, but spending time thinking about other people’s lives has just never been of interest to me.

OK, talk to me about the memory tunnels in Eternity, where characters can see things they experienced in life. I’m not sure I could do that.

Randolph: Yeah, that’s one of my favorite parts of the movie. There were the big moments in people’s lives, but then I love these random little things that to them were like a memory shock that burned in their brain.

Teller: My character — because he never goes in the archive tunnel, and that’s because he knows that she did have this love before him — I think there’s part of him that’s always felt like he is that consolation prize.

I love those details as well. Especially the opening scene when Joan and Larry are bickering in the car — reminds me of my parents so much.

Teller: We focused on a geographic location where this couple comes from. It is in the Northeast, and it’s very much the love language [there]. You think they’re arguing, but it’s like, no, there’s just no filter. They’re not going to offend the other person.

Are you bickerers with partners or close friends or family?

Randolph: No, talk it out — or if it’s too much, take a break.

Teller: You’re good at taking a break?

Randolph: I’m a little too good at taking a break if I feel like it. If I was around all the time, I think I would have blurred lines, but I’ve learned in this career [how] to evaluate relationships better, and I think I’m actually healthier with it. Life is short. Not like I’m quick to break somebody off, but let’s figure it out, and if we can’t, then that’s OK. When I was younger, I remember my mom used to be like, “There’s a reason, a season, and a time that people come and go out of your life.” I used to cry, “No mom, I want to be friends with them forever.” And now that I’ve gotten older, I’m like, “No, that’s cool.”

With the memory tunnel, there’s so much discourse these days about ayahuasca or MDMA type trips people can do to “uncover memories.”

Teller: Wow, I did not expect these questions on Bustle. My ears perked up a little.

“I don’t get down when actors are like, ‘Oh man, I got to do this press sh*t.’ It’s like, ‘Dude, you make a movie for people to see it.’”

Well, would you ever be tempted to have one of those mediated experiences with a professional who helps you to maybe uncover something?

Teller: I have a buddy who got out of the military and then was apprenticing to become a shaman. I mean, I’m a Deadhead. There’s a spirituality. I also believe there’s certain rhythms and sounds that are at our core fundamental to this human universal connection that we have. I’ve certainly… I mean, I went to theater school in New York and was listening to Grateful Dead. I’ve enjoyed really stretching out conventional thinking and trying to break that mold and explore. Some of that deeper stuff, with ayahuasca specifically, they’re like, “Well, it’s peeling back a layer of the onion.” But then I’m like, “Well, so when are you complete?” They’re like, “You’re never complete, brother. You just peel back another layer.” I like the way my brain rocks, but I certainly invested many years in [asking], “What else is out there?”

Randolph: I’d be open to it. I just want the right person doing it. Don’t get me stuck.

Teller: My buddy. [Laughs]

Randolph: I don’t want to get stuck out there in the unforgotten place! You can bring me back.

Anna is a real mentor to Larry in this. Have either of you had really great mentors in your life?

Teller: Yeah, I’ve had some really great people in my life. For this movie, I bring up my grandfather specifically because he and my grandma were married for 60 odd years. Even though he was a Marine — a tough guy, he built the house that they lived in — I never saw my grandmother carry her own bag. He opened every door for her. He treated her like a queen. Strong, sensitive — my dad is like that as well.

Randolph: Yeah, I would say it’s probably the women in my family learning that balance of standing in your power but still having a career and balancing the kids. There’s nothing wrong with being a stay-at-home mom, but it was more revelatory for me to see a working woman juggling all the things.

One of the things that I thought was so fun about Eternity is all of these crazy, weird, funny futures that people can choose. They’re almost like movie sets. Are there any types of movies that you two would love to star in?

Teller: Mine would be [1988’s] Bull Durham because it takes place in a minor league baseball town, and the town is very much its own character. If I was there with the baseball field and my friends and the bar and the pool table and all that stuff, that would be a lot of fun.

Randolph: I was going to say Dynasty, but that’s a little too much. What’s that in-between luxury?

Teller: White Lotus?

Randolph: Yeah. There it is.

Would you two ever want to be in a show like The White Lotus?

Teller: I think Mike White’s the man.

Randolph: He’s figured it out and is cranking ‘em out. Hits.

Teller: It’s always very interesting characters and everybody gets that full arc. Yeah, that’d be cool. My wife would be very into it. She wants me to do a movie for a location so bad. [If a project on location is] sent my way, she’s like, “Yes.” I don’t even know what it’s about. She’s like, “I don’t care.”

Randolph: No, that job is a commitment though. Six months wherever it’s at.

“You manipulate your emotions. That’s how I describe acting. You become very efficient at manipulating your emotions on cue, on-off, on-off, for 12 hours or whatever it is.”

It’s a long, long time. If you have downtime in between projects, does that feel good or does that ever feel like, oh, what’s next!?

Teller: I think I’ve always been pretty good about it. I really do enjoy my life. And your relationships really suffer when you are filming a movie — Keleigh is getting a very small part of me when I’m filming. But yeah, I enjoy seeing my friends, seeing my family, doing some traveling. I don’t ever feel like I need to force the next thing. It’s more frustrating, I think, when you just feel like you haven’t read something inspiring in a long time. I’ve certainly taken a couple months off before, but I also say: If I read the right thing, I’ll go back to back to back to back to back.

Randolph: I agree with you. I think that’s the hardest part: You feel like, gosh, what’s out there? I’ve come to understand that that off time is just as important. You have to live and experience things, in my opinion, to be good at what we do. If I was just so insular and just worked, worked, worked all the time, or just was in actor mode all the time, I think I would be limited.

How do you shake off work when you’re so deep in it?

Randolph: Because I’m so jacked up after work, I need a wind-down. Usually I’ll make something [to eat] and watch cartoons. When we’re acting, there’s so many people around us and talking at us and asking us all these questions. When you get back to your spot, I don’t want to talk.

Teller: Keleigh’s always with me, and I mean, she knows at this point, we’ve been together 13 years, but I’m like, “No, dude, I just talked 12, 13 hours.” And also you manipulate your emotions. That’s how I describe acting. You become very efficient at manipulating your emotions on cue, on-off, on-off, for 12 hours or whatever it is. If I can just come back and watch some baseball, I’m good. This last movie I did in New York, it was this same Panang curry from this same place pretty much every night.

Randolph: Yeah, you need that thing. It’s like our spinning top in Inception. We need that thing to return back to reality.

“You have to live and experience things to be good at what we do. If I just worked, worked, worked all the time, I would be limited.”

Teller: And how would you describe Inception? Just in a short—

Randolph: The best movie of my life! Not to get off on a tangent, I dream every single night constantly. And as a child, my mom was like, “What did you dream about?” And I’m like, “I don’t know how to explain it.” And when I watched Inception, I was like, my people.

Da’Vine, do you dream of different things when you're playing a particular character?

Teller: Ooh, that’s a good question.

Randolph: I dream from their perspective. You know, when you're in a foreign country long enough, your dreams start to change a bit?

I thought it was an interesting moment in the movie when at one point someone brings up the idea of Joan going away with Luke and Larry. There’s a lot of talk about ethical non-monogamy these days. Do you think that could ever work?

Teller: It doesn’t seem like it ever works out.

Randolph: Each to their own, but I will say this: Everybody’s got to really be into it. Do you know what I mean?

Teller: I think if it’s a guy and a girl, he’s usually the one who’s the most into it.

Randolph: And that’s where I think it gets murky. I’ve seen it. I guess it could work in theory if both people truly wanted that, not someone suggesting it to try something new. I wonder then, should we be having a different conversation [about the relationship’s future] and this is just, like, step one of you afraid to ask the questions?

Miles, did the competitiveness Larry feels with Callum’s character ever bleed off set?

Teller: I don’t think so. Maybe that first day the two of us were kind of leaning into it, but I mean, that went away so fast. Honestly, I had such a fun time working with him. Man, he’s an actor who wants to play. He wants to be surprised. He wants to be loose. So we had a really good time.

That’s fun. Is he going to take you out around London when you go there next week?

Randolph: He better.

Teller: No, he’s working, but I think he’s set me up with a few reservations.

“I like the way my brain rocks, but I certainly invested many years in asking, ‘What else is out there?’”

When I interviewed Elizabeth for Bustle’s One Nightstand series, she mentioned she likes doing projects that are in theaters. Is that important to you?

Teller: When we first started out there wasn’t streaming, but at the same time, I watch movies on streaming, so I think it also can be a bit hypocritical. I think that it all starts with the script. I’m not going to deny working with an incredible director and writer and cast just because it’s on streaming. But I don’t want to see the theatrical experience go away, so I think it’s important to try and keep feeding that medium, absolutely.

Randolph: Yeah, and I think something that was really cool that came out of the pandemic is that people learned to create and enhance the movie-going experience within their home. And as long as you’re having an experience while you’re watching what we’re doing, then I’m like, OK, cool.

Eternity felt like such a callback to the kind of movies I would see when I was younger. The kind you’d go catch at a theater in a mall and get food after.

Teller: Now that we’re starting to roll it out and we’ve done some screenings, afterwards people are kind of grouping off and coupling off and talking, or they want to talk to us about their grandparents. I think it’s really lovely.

Top image credit: On Teller: Savas jacket, Industry of All Nations shirt, Balenciaga pants; On Randolph: Caleb Ryan Wells dress, Alexis Bittar jewelry