WATCH: ‘Whiplash’ Trailer With Miles Teller Drumming

Miles Teller takes on his toughest role yet as he struggles to become the next great jazz drummer in Whiplash. The film debuted at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival to much fanfare, and received both the Grand Jury Prize and the Dramatic Audience Award.

The movie co-stars J.K. Simmons as Teller’s instructor, Paul Reiser as his father and Glee’s Melissa Benoist as his girlfriend. Teller had a background playing drums and told Vulture about his early experience:

I’ve been drumming since I was about 15… My freshman year I just asked for a drum set… I played in bands almost immediately. Played in two or three bands in high school and then when I went to college in my very small NYU dorm, I had my drum set with me. And then when I moved to L.A. four years ago, I brought my drum set out.

Whiplash premieres in theaters on Oct. 10, 2014.

Take a first look at Teller’s drumming feign in the trailer above.