Never judge a book by its cover. Or a valet by his uniform.
That’s a lesson Blair Wesley (Anjelica Bette Fellini) learns the hard way in Netflix’s new original series Teenage Bounty Hunters. Blair initially dismisses the goofy and charming Miles Taylor (Myles Evans), who works as a valet at her parents’ country club and is crushing on her big time. Luckily, Blair sees the error in her ways and gets to know the real Miles, discovering that he is a genuinely smooth and thoughtful dude. I was also lucky to get to know the real Myles (the actor Myles with a ‘Y,’ try to keep up!) as we sat down to talk about the duality of his character, Atlanta film, and what makes Teenage Bounty Hunters such a dopalicious show.
Who is Miles Taylor?
Fans of the series will know him as Blair’s hunky love interest who, even after a botched first date at the Bargain Hole, gives the teen bounty hunter a second chance and eventually wins her heart. In the words of Evans (as he shall henceforth be known to avoid confusion), Miles is “a funky Afro-punk dude who is a DJ and a welder. He’s cool, he’s calm, and he’s really down and into this girl Blair, and that’s his whole world. DJ, welding, Blair. Rinse, repeat.”
But there’s so much more to Miles than that.
“On my best days, I’m living three contradictions minimum,” Miles tells Blair in the fourth episode, “Death is Bad.” A surprisingly complex character, there is more going on beneath the surface of Miles Taylor than meets the eye. At first glance, he may seem like just a dorky valet. As Evans mentions, he is also an artist. He’s also a boyfriend. And as we come to learn later along with Blair (minor spoiler warning), his parents are filthy stinkin’ rich. All of these things are part of his identity. With so many different pieces making up the multifaceted Miles, I asked Evans how he approached portraying the many sides to his character.
“It was a little difficult,” Evans said, explaining that he was not always given scripts ahead of time. Essentially, he was finding out these things about Miles gradually just as we, the audience, were. So, he tackled each dimension of Miles one at a time. First, it was about how best to portray Miles the goofy valet. Then, as more shades of the character were revealed, it became about how to depict Miles, the funky Afro-punk dude. “How do you split the two lives that are being portrayed in the show?” Evans said. “The answer is he’s still the same dude no matter what, but the way he’s perceived is different because of his appearance. Just because he looks a certain way, Blair treats him a certain way. And that’s something she comes to find out. So, I had to figure that all out along the way.”
And there’s even more, it turns out, to the Myles behind the Miles.
First, let’s address the elephant in the room. I don’t know about you, but my head is spinning from all this Miles/Myles talk. But I’ve got to admit that it’s convenient playing a character who shares your name. I’d imagine it makes it easier to slip into character, plus fans are guaranteed to never forget your name! Easy enough to remember, right? It was serendipity. I asked Evans if he brought any of his elements or style to the character, and here’s what he had to say.
“I’m going to try to bring the best assets of myself and use that to breathe life into his lines. That being said, Myles with a ‘Y’ is goofy—I’m a klutz, I’m a nerd, I like video games, I’m not smooth. But Miles Taylor is the exact opposite. The dude is smooth; he’s not awkward.” According to Evans, he had to do a bit of soul-searching to decide which parts of himself he considered “cool” and which parts he wanted to bring to the character. As it turned out, he’s a lot cooler than he thought!
It goes without saying that in recent years, Georgia has achieved renown for its booming film industry, having surpassed Hollywood in the number of film productions. For Evans, an Atlanta native, the Georgia film industry was like a dream come true. “I happened to be born at the right time and place,” Evans said. “Right around the time I was getting ready to graduate high school was when you started hearing ‘Made in Georgia’ [in TV credits]. So what I love most about the Atlanta film industry is that it’s in my backyard.”
Evans went on to explain how shooting Teenage Bounty Hunters was just a hop, skip, and a jump around town for him. “When we were shooting the show, we were just going to different places I grew up around. That’s all we did.” He shared how he used to pass the discount furniture store off Jimmy Carter every single day on his way to school—the same furniture store that would become the Bargain Hole, where Miles Taylor has his first date with Blair. “And all the country club scenes were shot at Sugarloaf Country Club,” Evans continued enthusiastically. “That’s in Lawrenceville, where I grew up for the most part. It was so cool to be in my backyard and do this whole Hollywood thing.”
The third episode, “This Must Be How Dumb Kids Feel,” features the hilariously awkward first date between Miles and Blair. As Miles rolls up to the Bargain Hole in all his dope Afro-punk glory, his grand entrance consists of an epic slow-mo shot, set to the funky tune of “SpottieOttieDopaliscious” by Outkast (also from Atlanta!). When asked what theme music he would like to play whenever he walks into a room in real life, Evans replied that it would have to be Outkast. “They nailed it,” he said.
So why, according to Evans, should you watch Teenage Bounty Hunters?
“Teenage Bounty Hunters is a trip, straight bananas! A horny, hormone-filled good time filled with and sex and crime. Who doesn’t like that?” Evans declared with excitement. With a ringing endorsement like that, how could anyone pass it up? So head on over to Netflix and check out the show—and both Miles/Myles—for yourself!
And if Teenage Bounty Hunters hasn’t sated your Myles Evans fix, you can see him in the film Yes, God, Yes, which stars Natalia Dyer and is available to stream on VOD platforms like Apple TV, Vudu, and Amazon Video. He is also set to appear in the film The Glorias, a Gloria Steinem biopic starring Julianne Moore, which is slated for release later in 2020.