Top Gun Maverick: Like hitting a bullet with a bullet

The cast and crew discuss fighting the Gs, and the heady combination of Tom Cruise in his leather jacket and Aviators, a Ninja motorcycle, an F/A-18 and a runway

More than 30 years after he took our collective breath away as Captain Pete Mitchell in Tony Scott’s Top Gun, Tom Cruise is back in the cockpit in Top Gun: Maverick. The film, which was delayed due to the pandemic, opens on May 27. Advance reviews have been universally warm and lauded director Joseph Kosinski’s skillful balance between nostalgia and new.

While the movie sees the return of Cruise (truly the last of the bonafide movie stars), Val Kilmer’s Iceman and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, the cast boasts a bunch of shining stars including Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm and Ed Harris.

Teller plays Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, a pilot training under Cruise. More importantly, Rooster is Goose’s son, who as we all remember died in a training accident in Top Gun. Played by Anthony Edwards, Goose was Maverick’s RIO (Radar Intercept Officer), and best friend. Though an inquiry clears Maverick of responsibility for Goose’s death, the burden of guilt lies heavy on him… Maybe looking out for Rooster offers Maverick a chance for redemption.  

Cruise had the best things to say of Teller’s performance likening the relationship between Maverick and Rooster, to “threading a needle tonally”. Teller returns the compliment saying, “Tom is the best. His work ethic is unparalleled. He is somebody who cares deeply about entertaining audiences. It is his attention to detail that separates him from anybody else.”

Speaking over a video call, the 35-year-old actor says, “I had worked with Joe Kosinski, previously. The reason why I got the call initially was because several years ago he showed my picture to Tom in Paris. When they started talking about the script, they both thought that I could potentially be great in this role. Once I did get the part, it was a job I absolutely couldn’t say no to.”

And he went all in, including seven weeks of piano lessons to play ‘Great Balls of Fire’ in the bar. With real flying being part of the movie, Teller says, the training was rigorous. “We were training for about a year, flying pretty much all the time to be able to withstand the Gs and to be able to feel comfortable enough in the jet to give a performance.”

While there were several fun memories associated with Maverick, Teller says the scene which is an homage to the original film was special. “All of us are on the beach, and having Tom share that moment with us was fun.”