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Miles Teller's grandfather influenced his performance as a devoted husband in Eternity
Teller spoke to PEOPLE about how living with his grandparents, including his late grandfather, just before filming the new rom-com affected his turn as Larry in it
Eternity follows an afterlife love triangle between three characters played by Teller, Elizabeth Olsen and Callum Turner
Miles Teller's grandparents have played a huge role in his life, but they have also influenced his roles on-screen.
In his latest film, the romantic comedyEternity, the actor plays an everyman Larry, who fights for his longtime wife, Joan (Elizabeth Olsen), in the afterlife after she reunites with her first love, Luke (Callum Turner). At the New York City premiere of the A24 rom-com, Teller, 38, told PEOPLE that his grandparents, and particularly his late grandpa, had a great influence on his turn as the devoted on-screen husband.
Asked how his guests at the Nov. 8 premiere, his wifeKeleighand grandmotherLeona Flowers, influenced his performance inEternity, Teller explained that both of his grandparents were staying with him in California "right before" he filmed the movie last year.
His grandfather died months later, in December 2024.
"It was really nice to just … I don't know, observe them," he said of his grandparents, whom he has "always been very close to."
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"They're so in love," he added of the duo. "Oftentimes when people have been married that long, when one goes the other — usually it's not far behind because that truly … it's like a broken heart kind of thing. So I just think it's really special."
Added Teller: "I come from a long line of great men, and so I'm proud to represent that."
The actor also shared how his other plus-one at the N.Y.C. premiere, his wife Keleigh, inspired his turn as devoted husband Larry inEternity.
"My wife, yeah, she's the best, man," he said of his longtime love, whom hewedin 2019. "When we said 'I do' to each other, we very much envisioned, you know, being with each other, forever, for eternity."
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"She really grounds everything in my life in such a beautiful way," Teller added. "She's incredibly pure-hearted."
Teller previously opened up abouthow the "ordinary love" ofEternitydrew him to the movieas it premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival in September.
"I love an ordinary love, you know?" he said during the film's Q&A after the TIFF screening. "I grew up with a lot of men who were devoted to their wife and were always going to try and make her happy, and her happiness was his happiness."
"I just thought this [film] was a beautiful way to take a peek behind the curtain of people that you just passed in the grocery store, people that kind of stuck it out," added the star. "And it just affected me greatly, honestly, when I read the script."
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InEternity, the recently deceased pull into a travel expo-like "junction" where they have to choose a final destination for their afterlife.
Complications ensue for longtime couple Larry and Joan when the former realizes his wife is still in love with her first husband, Luke, who died in the Korean War — and has been toiling in limbo waiting for Joan for 67 years.
Eternityis in theaters now.
Read the original article onPeople
