The former Oakland Raiders linebacker talks swapping the football field for film sets, watching Christian Bale at work, playing Raiders legend Phil Villapiano and experiencing the NFL’s historic arrival in Australia.

Miles Burris knows something about changing careers.

The former NFL linebacker played for the Oakland Raiders from 2012 to 2014 before swapping football for Hollywood, where he has since appeared in more than 20 film and television projects.

But Burris’ two worlds have increasingly begun to overlap. He appeared alongside Australian actor Uli Latukefu in Young Rock and will next be seen playing legendary Raiders linebacker Phil Villapiano in Madden, the upcoming film about the life and career of John Madden.

The role also gave Burris the opportunity to work alongside Christian Bale, who plays longtime Raiders owner Al Davis — an experience Burris describes as a “masterclass.”

Burris was recently in Melbourne as the NFL staged its first-ever regular-season game in Australia. While his beloved Raiders weren’t on the field, the franchise was represented through a series of events surrounding the historic occasion.

The Hollywood Reporter Australia sat down with Burris to talk about making the leap from professional football to acting, watching Bale disappear into character, his remarkable connection to Villapiano and why five-year-old Miles would be amazed by where life has taken him.

You went from playing in the NFL to building a career in Hollywood. How did that transition first happen?

They beat the heck out of you in college football. There was no contract to protect you. [Laughs.] So I was so tired at the end of every practice, I would just go to Redbox, get a bunch of movies, veg out on my bed and try to recover.

The idea was kind of born there. I thought, “That looks like a fun occupation.” You’re a different character every time rather than being a linebacker wherever I go. I shelved it until football was all the way done, and then when it was, I got into it and had a pretty quick start in the industry.

You grew up dreaming of playing in the NFL. How early did that ambition begin?

The dream for the NFL started the first day I put on pads in fifth grade. I remember going up the street to my mom and dad and saying, “Hey, I want to play in the NFL.” And my mom was like, “Oh yeah, that’s great, honey.” You know, just a big lofty dream. But my path to the draft started in fifth grade.

What was the biggest culture shock going from an NFL locker room to a Hollywood set?

The biggest culture shock was honestly the first day on set. There was a very minor stunt where I just had to fall onto my knees, and there was a big blue pad there. After every take, there was somebody rushing to my side: “Sir, are you okay? Are you good?”

Are you messing with me? I’m used to taking on big guys like Richie Incognito, pulling guard with a head of steam, and they’re 300-plus pounds. And they’re asking me if I’m okay falling onto a foam pad. I thought, “Wow, this is wild.”

You worked with Australian actor Uli Latukefu on Young Rock. What was that experience like?

Dude, Uli is the man. He was a great lead for that show, but he’s just a great human being. Really kind, really attentive to everybody, remembers everybody’s name, makes you feel seen. I really like Uli.

We filmed that on the Gold Coast, but it’s great to be here in Melbourne for the first time.

Which is harder — making it to the NFL or making it in Hollywood?

Great question. I think making it to the NFL is harder, for sure. The hard part of acting is that the NFL and sports are very objective. This guy’s faster than this guy, this guy makes more plays — that sort of thing. There’s no question about that. It’s pretty objective.

When it comes to acting, everything’s more subjective. Art is subjective. Everybody’s brain and what they enjoy is different, so it’s not necessarily like your inputs directly affect your outputs.

All you can control is your craft, and when your name is called for an audition, you have to go kill it.

You worked with Christian Bale on Madden. What was it like watching him work?

Getting to watch Christian Bale like a fly on the wall was amazing.

Sometimes I’d have to remind myself, “Hey, you’re in the scene too. You can’t just be watching him the whole time!” [Laughs.] He was just in character the whole time, talking and moving like Al Davis — all the mannerisms. It was a masterclass.

Every scene of Christian’s felt a little different. In between the scenes, he’s still talking like the character. It taught me a lot just being able to see it.

As a football player, you’re very visual. You’ll watch playback of yourself all the time. That’s how your mistakes get corrected. “See how you screwed that up there?” And then the coach rewinds it 50 times. “Yeah, okay, I get it, dude.”

But it helps a lot, even in the acting game.

You play Raiders legend Phil Villapiano in the film. Given your own history with the Raiders, that must have felt like a full-circle moment.

Absolutely. In the film, I play Raiders legend Phil Villapiano, one of the best linebackers ever to play for the Silver and Black.

I met him 20 years ago at the Fred Biletnikoff golf tournament in a town near my hometown. Some of the stud football players in high school got to go caddy for those guys, and I got paired with Phil. It was an adventurous ride, to say the least. He really is the life of the party.

Little did we know at that moment that a few years later I’d be playing the same position for the same team, the Oakland Raiders — and, two decades later, playing him in a feature film.

Since then, I’d continued to see him at all these Raiders alumni events over the years. I’ve been imitating Phil and doing his voice for 20 years. So when I got the audition and saw it was for Phil Villapiano, I immediately put it on tape.

I almost felt a little bit pissed off, because I was like, “I’ve been so right for so many roles, and if they don’t give me this one, somebody’s getting punched, because nobody’s going to play Phil better than me.”

That was really exciting. It was a full-circle moment to play for the Raiders and then represent the Raiders on film. I’m hoping they get that piece right, so that it looks great and comes together well for Raider Nation.

Did Villapiano give you his blessing?

Yes, he did. What was cool is that it got us in touch more again. We got tighter, and we were having phone calls. He was telling me what certain experiences felt like.

He told me the story of how he was cut by Al Davis. I was talking to the director between scenes at one point and just mentioned that. It came up naturally. He said, “Oh, we’ve got to shoot it. We’ve got to shoot it.”

He was impulsive about what he shot, but he knew what he wanted. I hope that makes it into the cut. We’ll see. It was just great to have that full-circle moment and represent the Silver and Black.

What can audiences expect from Madden?

It’s going to be mostly about John Madden and his career post-football. The scenes that I’ll be in are mostly in the setup of the movie, in the first 15 minutes. After that, it will tell his rise in popularity due to the video game.

Honestly, that script and the movie were so secretive. I’d get my lines oftentimes the day of, and we didn’t get a full script. I don’t really know what to expect either. I don’t know exactly what the tone and vibe will feel like in the cut, but it should be a fun time.

You’re in Melbourne as the NFL stages its first regular-season game in Australia. What does the occasion mean to you?

It’s really exciting. It’s the first-ever regular-season NFL game in Australia. The Raiders aren’t playing, but they get to have a presence here because they have global marketing rights. It’s a blessing that I get to come out here and partner with them. They have the best alumni program in the NFL, by far.

We’ve been to some events and it’s been amazing. They don’t spare an expense. They’re pretty elaborate. It feels like the week leading up to the Super Bowl, when you go out to all those events and networking places.

It’s really top-notch, and it’s kind of like a Super Bowl in Australia. It’s historic.

You’ve achieved the childhood dream of playing in the NFL and then built another career in Hollywood. What would five-year-old Miles think if he could see your life today?

That’s a great question. I think five-year-old Miles would be proud. I think he’d be amazed in some ways.

When I was five years old, I was in the hospital nearly dead from an infection that attacked my nervous system. My parents didn’t know if I was going to make it. So I’d probably be in a hospital bed seeing this.

It’s powerful, and God’s been good to me. I’m blessed and grateful.

So where does the ambition take you next?

Yeah, I’ve got a lot of roles I want to play, as well as a lot of things that I’ve written that I want to do.

I think really the next goal is to kind of do the Adam Sandler thing, where it’s making my own projects — TV and film projects, a lot of comedy stuff — but also having the ability to bring it down a notch and do some drama.

My bread and butter is to lead with humour to then get to the heart. So I want to start doing that. We’ve got a production company in Nashville, and we’re going to start getting that going a little bit more soon.