The physicality of Miles Teller's drumming performance in Sundance hit, Whiplash, was one of the film's most impressive aspects, and my in my review I compared it to that of a professional boxer. Someone else must have been thinking the same thing, because Teller has just signed on to play boxer Vinny Pazienza in Bleed for This, a biopic that will co-star Aaron Eckhart.
It was a couple of years ago we learned that Ben Younger would be directing the film on the charismatic Pazienza, who earned the nickname the "Pazmanian Devil" due to his charismatic personality and ferocious fighting style. The film will chronicle Pazienza's rise to fame, which really took off in 1991 after defeating middleweight champ Gilbert Dele. Eckhart will play trainer Kevin Rooney, who helped Pazienza recover and return to the ring after a near-fatal car accident that many said would prevent him from walking again. Against doctors orders he came back to the ring and defeated the current champion, Luis Santana.This is really looking like it could be Teller's big year, and this is exactly the sort of film that can help catapult him to the next level. It doesn't hurt that Martin Scorsese is lending his muscle to the film as an exec-producer.
