Miles Teller found literal jet fuel in his blood while filming Top Gun: Maverick

What fuels Miles Teller’s performance in Top Gun: Maverick? As it turns out, literal jet fuel. The actor, who plays the mustachioed Bradley Bradshaw in the new movie, revealed that an extreme allergic reaction led to him discovering that jet fuel and other toxic substances were in his bloodstream.

Teller tells Seth Meyers on a recent episode of Late Night that he realized something was wrong when he broke out in “head to toe” hives after doing a flight scene on the Top Gun: Maverick set one day.

“We landed, and I thought, ‘Man, I’m not feeling too good,’” Teller says. “I was really hot and I just started itching like crazy. So I got out of the jet. I’m just covered in hives. Head to toe. I go to a doctor. I do a blood analysis. I’m in an oatmeal bath that night.”

It was the blood analysis that confirmed there was “flame-retardant, pesticide, and jet fuel” in his bloodstream. And Teller says he broke the news to co-star Tom Cruise when he arrived on set the next morning.

“I go to set the next day and Tom‘s like, ‘How did it go Miles? What did they find?’” Teller recounts. “I was like, ‘Well, Tom, it turns out I have jet fuel in my blood.’ And without even skipping a beat Tom goes ‘Yeah, I was born with it, kid.’ So that was a very Tom moment for me.”

(Cruise being fueled by literal jet fuel would certainly explain a few things—namely, his claim that he wears disguises so he can see every movie that comes to theaters. Yes, he said every movie.)

Jet fuel mishap aside, the environment on the film’s set was still pretty intense and resembled a boot camp, with Teller previously sharing he almost vomited while training for the role of a fighter pilot. Teller told The A.V. Club his confidence sometimes wavered once he got up in the air.

“I would be confident in something, and as soon as you get, up in the jet a lot of that goes out the window, because you’re just dealing with some extreme elements,” he said.