The many hats of Miles Bugby: Tennis player, actor, model, and social influencer

Miles Bugby. Photo Credit: River Jordan.

Miles Bugby is a man of many talents: tennis player, actor, model, photographer, and social influencer. He sat down and chatted with this journalist at Burgerology USA in Midtown about his latest endeavors.

Colin Powell once said: “A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” This quote applies to Miles Bugby.

A native of Brighton, England, Bugby has lived in such places as New York, Los Angeles, as well as Sydney, Australia, and he has pursued realms in both the sports and creative worlds.

Bugby on New York

“New York is a pretty special place,” he admitted. “I have been coming in and out of this city since 2015. I’ve also been going back and forth to Sydney too.”

Bugby on his daily motivations

Each day, he is motivated by his desire to be better than he was the day before. “That mentality once again comes from my tennis background,” he said.

“Tennis really teaches you how to deal with things. Tennis players have to deal with their losses and then, find a way to get better and come back, and just deal with these ups and downs. Tennis gives people a thick skin and it makes them stronger, for sure,” he elaborated.

“Going into the modeling industry I am in now is very hard because there are a lot of unknowns. You need to take control of what you can do, and try to improve everything,” he said.

“For me, it is all about having some sort of routine,” he added.

Bugby on his transition from tennis to modeling

“Tennis has been my life,” he revealed. “I started when I was eight years old, which is reasonably late when it comes to tennis.”

“I’ve played every sport under the sun, and I went to sports schools with scholarships, and at 18, I decided that I wanted to go to America because it enabled me to keep my education and to play sports at the highest level,” he noted.

After suffering a knee injury, he suffered from depression, but the transition to modeling happened when he went to Los Angeles. One of his friends encouraged him to get into the modeling industry (who was dating a model at the time).

“Once I sent the agency my headshots, they gave me a test shoot, they decided to take me on, and that was it,” he said.

The digital age

On being a part of the digital age, Bugby said, “I got into the industry 10 years ago, and that’s when the transition was happening. You could feel it because it was all about the social media numbers.”

“People can also make money with brands because you can post things, so there are opportunities there. There are pros and cons to the digital age,” he noted.

“Social media has given me opportunities and it gives people accessibility to things, which is amazing, and that’s something people might have not had before,” he said.

“The downside of social media is that it can be a really toxic place,” he added.

Future plans

Regarding his future plans, he revealed, “I’ve got quite a few. Tennis has always been my passion, and it is still very much a part of my life.”

“Throughout this journey on the modeling scene, I have explored the acting side of things as well,” he noted.

He shared that he enjoys working with Sheila Gray as his acting coach, and he described her as “amazing.” “I really connect with her… she is big of sensory, which is interesting. I really enjoy working with her,” he said.

Bugby shares the best advice he has ever been given

On the best advice that he has ever been given, he shared, “There are a few. For me, to live in the here and the now. It’s all about mindfulness and being present. This derived from tennis, and I have taken it on to all aspects of my everyday life.”

“I want to make sure that my future is in the best possible hands. I’ve kept that same mentality with everything I do,” he acknowledged.

“Manifesting things has been my goal,” he admitted. “This is something I’ve been focusing more on, and ever since, I’ve been a lot more aware of where I want to put my energy, and I think that has helped me.”

Bugby on his favorite strokes in swimming

Bugby listed “front crawl” or “freestyle” as his personal favorite stroke in swimming. “I like it because I can go the fastest in that way,” he said with a sweet laugh.

“When I was injured with my knee, I was doing a lot of work in the swimming pool,” he said. “I liked doing the backstroke as well, since physically, it allowed me to open my shoulders up.”

Bugby on working with Ryan Gosling

Bugby recalled doing “The Chase for Carrera Film” short with Ryan Gosling.

“Ryan and I worked together back in December of 2022,” he said. “I actually cast for the commercial as the leading man, and this was for TAG Heuer. Ryan was actually playing my stuntman as a spinoff to the movie that he was making.”

Bugby continued, “My role was actually to come out fighting all these people and diving through a window, and then, Ryan gets up, and I go to dust him off and say ‘great job, man’ and then it follows him with the watch.”

“They wound up having Ryan Gosling for only one day, however, instead of two, and they decided to change the short up a little bit,” he said.

“I ended up having to be his stand-in, which was a great experience, and it was good to see Ryan Gosling working,” he said.

“David Leitch was the director for that as well, and it was great to be around those guys and take in as much as I can. I try to be like a sponge and absorb everything,” he admitted.

“I also got to be a stand-in for Ryan in ‘The Fall Guy’ so that was even better to be on that,” he enthused.

Bugby on Jeremy Gimenez

Bugby had great words about actor and filmmaker Jeremy Gimenez.

“Jeremy is such a nice human,” he said. “Jeremy is so calm, nice, reserved, humble and a giving man. He is very passionate, and he works hard. He has a love for tennis, and from that, he has that drive and hunger and that goes into his acting.”

“This is something that tennis teaches people. Jeremy has that tennis player mentality in him, he works hard, and overall, he is just a great guy,” Bugby added.

Bugby on photography

On his passion for photography, Bugby expressed, “I love my photography, I do a lot of that too.”

“Ever since I stopped tennis, my creativity has been flourishing. On the business side, I would like to go into properties as well because I have a passion for that as well,” he said.

“Honestly, there are a lot of things in my life, and I try to keep myself busy,” he added.

Bugby on Greece

“I love Greece,” he exclaimed. “It is probably one of my favorite countries in the world. I’ve actually played tournaments there, and it was beautiful. I love the weather, I love the people, and I love the food. I would love to go back more and more.”

“Now, I would love to go back to Greece and photograph that place, especially now that I’ve gotten more into photography. I’ve never really gone there and done that. The colors in Greece are so beautiful there, and the light is just incredible,” he added.

Stage of his life

On the title of the current chapter of his life, Bugby said, “The Renaissance.” “I am in the rediscovery chapter,” he said.

“Presently, I feel like I’ve done the reinventing, and it is all coming together. Not only are things manifesting but they are converging. Everything is really coming together nicely,” he explained.

Career-defining moments

His career-defining moments include winning a Conference Tournament final in tennis.

“When I managed to win it, that was a defining moment as well,” he noted.

“Moving forward, a year later, I had an even more defining moment in professional tennis, where I played a guy who ranked 180 in the world and was the best player in the Dominican Republic. Beating him made me realize that I could compete at the highest level.”

“Presently, a big defining moment is me being in the modeling industry,” he acknowledged.

Superpower of choice

His superpower of choice would be “time travel.”

“I like the idea of time travel,” Bugby noted. “One of my favorite movies growing up is ‘Back to the Future’ and I’ve always like that concept and the idea of being able to go back in time even more than the future.”

Bugby on success

“For me, success is a very complex thing. There are parts of me that view it as financial freedom, but as I’ve gotten older, it means staying healthy, having good friends and family around you.”

“If you are not happy with what you are doing, you need to do something about it,” he acknowledged.

“Also, doing something that you love. Being free and doing what you love, all while you are financially stable, and having good health. For me, that is the ultimate success,” he added.

Message for his fans and supporters

For his fans and supporters, Bugby expressed, “Obviously, I find it very humbling. I am grateful to anybody that has followed my journey and believed in me.”

“I am just trying to enjoy myself and to be better each day. I want to make my family, friends, acquaintances and my ‘fans’ proud. I am very thankful to them for supporting me,” he concluded.

American track and field running legend Steve Prefontaine once said: “To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift.” Bugby embodies this inspirational quote.

To learn more about Miles Bugby, follow him on Instagram.