- 3 minutes ago
“Top Gun: Maverick” stars Miles Teller (Rooster), Jon Hamm (Cyclone), Jennifer Connelly (Penny Benjamin), Jay Ellis (Payback), Monica Barbaro (Phoenix), Glen Powell (Hangman), Greg Tarzan Davis Coyote), Danny Ramirez (Fanboy), Lewis Pullman (Bob), Charles Parnell (Warlock), Bashir Salahuddin (Coleman), plus producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Joseph Kosinski discuss their highly anticipated “Top Gun” sequel in this interview with CinemaBlend’s Sean O’Connell. Find out how Tom Cruise surprised Jennifer Connelly with a flight, how the cast supported each other during the movie’s delay and more.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00That's what Top Gun's been doing for years, making grown men cry.
00:03Here comes some G's.
00:05There's five G's.
00:07Oh!
00:07Seven G's.
00:20Let me be the next person to tell you guys how great this movie is.
00:25Keep it coming.
00:26How much fun it's going to be for you guys.
00:26It's not worth a compliment to start a tickle fight.
00:30All right, so with all due respect to your performances, when we see you guys in the Jets,
00:35how much of it is actual acting, and how much of it is you guys reacting to crazy shit that's
00:40happening to you?
00:41Acting is reacting.
00:43Literally.
00:43I mean, it's all performance, actually, because you have the four cameras in the cockpit.
00:48And to be fair, a lot of the time, you know, with the cameras, you couldn't always see everything.
00:54And I think that's why we had so many hours in these things beforehand, so that we weren't, we were
01:00as comfortable as we could be in the jet.
01:02And then you're just able to focus on, because you have to act like you're flying the thing, and you're,
01:06you have to be in perfect sequence with your pilot.
01:09And you're just able to feel that otherwise the shot falls apart, so, I mean, I think that was a
01:13good thing.
01:14There were so many things we had to focus on up there to be able to get the shot and
01:18all these things that, yeah, I didn't have any of those moments.
01:23There is a little bit of both because we got so used to going up there and our bodies
01:27were so adapted to the G's that I think like a month or two in of being in the air,
01:33Tom
01:33was like, all right, so you guys have adapted so well that now like there's, um, you guys
01:38have to start like adding more intensity in certain moments.
01:40So then we then had to like just act in like as we're like scraping the side of a mountain,
01:45we also had to be like, all right, we're so used to it that we have to add a little
01:48bit
01:48more.
01:48Professor Cruz trained us so well that we, you know, when you're flying 500 knots through
01:54canyons, you're not as phased as you were, you know, months earlier.
01:59Let's go, let's see what you got.
02:01Before we started actually flying in the gist, of course, we can do all the reading and research
02:04and watching from other people's experiences on YouTube, like how to handle the G-forces
02:08and what the maneuvers really feel like, but it's not until you actually get in the air
02:12and be able to feel the like, you know.
02:17The what?
02:19That is an imitation of a G-pool.
02:22Well, I had a slightly different variation there, which is so fun.
02:27That's not exactly how it goes.
02:29But that's how I try to save myself.
02:34That's all we were doing on the beach football scene, just going.
02:39Please tell me at some point you got into one of the planes and went for a ride.
02:42I wish.
02:43No, I did not get to, I did not get to experience that.
02:45They're pretty judicious with letting people inside $80 million of taxpayer-funded machinery.
02:53So there was a lot of things to sign before I would have been able to do that, but I
02:57did
02:58not get to do that, unfortunately.
02:59I won't give any specifics away, but at one point your character does get to go up in a plane,
03:03and I was so very happy that it happened.
03:05Is that something you asked to happen?
03:08I did not ask, but I did not say no.
03:12I think it might have been Tom's idea.
03:14He mentioned it to me when we were in the plane shooting a scene that we were just supposed to
03:19be on the runway, never supposed to see us take off.
03:24And he asked me if I had been in a P-51 before, to which I said, no, Tom.
03:29And then he asked if I had done any aerobatic flying before, to which I said, no, Tom.
03:35Why should I be expecting to?
03:36And he said, it's just going to be very gentle.
03:38We're going to do some very gentle roles.
03:39It's going to be very beautiful.
03:42So that was how I found out we were going to be doing that aerobatic flying, which was amazing.
03:47It was really amazing, you know, and thank goodness it was with him as a pilot for so many reasons.
03:53A, because, you know, what a life experience, but also I have so much faith in him.
03:58He's so skilled.
04:00His exploits are legendary.
04:02His call sign.
04:04Map rate.
04:06Who are your friends?
04:07Payback.
04:07Fanboy.
04:08What do they call you?
04:09Bob?
04:09No, your call sign.
04:11Bob.
04:12Um, did everyone love their call signs?
04:14Did anybody want to trade out their call signs at all?
04:16Don't take the bait, Bob.
04:18Heck no.
04:18Nah.
04:19I think I love Bob.
04:20I love mine.
04:20Yeah, I think it spoke to all of us.
04:23It's funny, we got the opportunity to.
04:24Oh, really?
04:25And one, one call sign changed and it made sense.
04:29Um, and I was thinking about it because you hear Phoenix in a lot of, like, it's not uncommon.
04:35You hear it in a lot of contexts and there are other characters out there with the name and, um,
04:40um, but then we all sort of earned our call signs in very, um, funny ways.
04:48Uh, what else I'll say about that?
04:50Yep.
04:51Save it for the deleted tears.
04:52He rises from the ashes.
04:54That's just what else.
04:55First night out.
04:57And he will pay you back.
04:58I will.
04:59I will actually.
05:00And if you throw me in the ocean, I will Bob.
05:02You will Bob.
05:05I got to, I got to actually, like, come up with mine.
05:08You know, I, I, I, when I, when I first, uh, when I was even, um, when I first got
05:12the,
05:13uh, the job, immediately my original call sign was Slayer.
05:18And, and which, in the first Navy briefing, they were like, you know, these are Air Force
05:22call signs.
05:23These are Navy call signs.
05:24They were Air Force call signs.
05:25Like, Slayer and Spine Ripper.
05:27And I was like, well, I got to change this.
05:29This is an Air Force call sign.
05:30And so I went down to Miramar, stayed with some Naval Aviators, really just riffed on
05:34what that was going to be.
05:35So that's, uh, yeah, Kaczynski, McQuarrie, you know, and I all came up with Hangman.
05:39Where's he going?
05:40That's why we call him Hangman.
05:41He'll always hang you out to dry.
05:43You need to have a call sign that would be perfect for Penny.
05:46I don't have one that would be perfect for Penny.
05:48I had one in real life at one point a very long time ago, um, which has nothing to do
05:53with Penny, but in college, I kind of forced myself onto the running team, um, just because
05:58I really wanted to be on a team.
05:59But didn't play any sports, which is, doesn't really work.
06:02So, but I thought maybe I can will myself to run fast enough.
06:08And, um, so they let me on kind of, I think I might have been more a mascot than anything
06:14because I never competed, which is a little suspicious.
06:16But I was on the roster.
06:17And on the roster, we all had nicknames that were assigned to us.
06:20And mine was Death Grip.
06:21Probably because I was the slowest with the least training and the least skill.
06:27Uh, but I was very determined.
06:30I love it.
06:31And I always held on.
06:32Nice.
06:33What happened to movie soundtracks?
06:35I mean, I grew up in a time when, when every film had a soundtrack and Top Gun was one
06:39of the pivotal ones.
06:41Um, I just wonder where they went to and which ones did you guys listen to a ton?
06:44Oh, man.
06:45I mean, that's a great, you know, a soundtrack I listen to all the time is Pulp Fiction.
06:50Oh, that's a wonderful one.
06:52One of the last great ones, actually.
06:53Yeah.
06:54To be honest with you.
06:55Yeah.
06:55Yeah.
06:55That's an, I, I've never really contemplated where they just kind of fade away and then
07:00you don't really notice they're gone.
07:01But that goes into big movies as well.
07:05So you need big movies to have soundtracks that kind of resonate with people.
07:08So that's the great thing about Top Gun Maverick is going to have Lady Gaga's song.
07:12So that's going to be one of the new tunes to come out of it.
07:15Absolutely.
07:16Did you have one?
07:16I did, actually.
07:17And you know, it's interesting.
07:18I knew the music before I even knew it was a movie because I'm, this movie came out
07:23way before I was born, but it was a Marvin Gaye Trouble Man, which is like one of the
07:27most sonically beautiful things ever put on wax.
07:30Yes.
07:31And a friend of mine sent me the album and I was listening to it.
07:33And then like later I was like, oh, there's a whole movie.
07:36But you know, soundtracks are a big deal.
07:38You know, the perfect song will help you really encapsulate how you feel about that movie
07:42at that time.
07:43And then it becomes special forever.
07:44Yeah, I mean, obviously Top Gun was the one that stuck with me that summer of 86.
07:50The original Top Gun, for sure, that take my breath away, always got stuck in my head.
07:55Kenny Loggins, you know, Footloose, you know, we all remember that.
08:00Kenny's obviously got a song in our movie.
08:02You are now officially associated with two franchises with amazing soundtracks, Footloose
08:07and Top Gun.
08:08Which one do you prefer?
08:09Which one?
08:10I'm just in the Kenny Loggins fan club, I guess, man.
08:13I'm going to go see Loggins and Messina at the Bowl.
08:15Yeah.
08:15I'm a huge fan.
08:16I mean, I'm just, yeah, it's great.
08:19I'm just revisiting movies from the 80s.
08:22Okay.
08:22Every little bit, that's what I'm going to do.
08:23What I'm excited about this is, you know, Lady Gaga wrote an original song for our film
08:28and she did, you know, such an incredible job that Hans used the theme to create the
08:33love theme for the film and orchestrated it.
08:36So, you know, I can't wait for people to hear that.
08:38I think Lady Gaga's song, really, she really knocked it out of the park.
08:42It's pretty phenomenal.
08:43Damn right.
08:46Excuse me, miss.
08:47Hey, hey, hey.
08:48Don't worry, I'll take care of this.
08:49Like Tom in the original, you get to sing in this movie.
08:52Oh, yeah.
08:53And you can sing, man.
08:54You're a great singer.
08:55So how'd you feel about that scene approaching it?
08:57Any trepidation or?
08:59I think, well, I was, it's one of those things where I told them right off the bat,
09:05I said, I played piano when I was younger.
09:07I still dabble a little bit, but I want to, but I don't need a double.
09:11I will play and sing this live.
09:12And so, then you realize it's a pretty hard song and he sings pretty high.
09:17But for me, those are always just good kind of motivators too.
09:22Like fear of failure, I think is, a lot of actors say that, but it is very true.
09:27Show me what you're made of.
09:28There's a speech in the middle of the movie that I love where Maverick says,
09:30Push beyond your limits.
09:32So who, for you, from an acting standpoint, was your Maverick?
09:35Who pushed you beyond where you were comfortable?
09:37I've been very fortunate in my career to work with some of the most talented people in the world.
09:41And I, this is certainly one of them, you know, and I've had a lot of incredible teachers down the
09:47line too.
09:48And, and one of the things that I learned was like the, the uncomfortable part is the, is the part
09:53where you learn the most.
09:54And I think that that's, gets to what you were saying with, with what Tom's character was saying in the
10:00film.
10:00It's like, let's see what your limits really are.
10:02You know, there was, there's the line from, uh, The Right Stuff too, where it's like, let's find out where
10:07that demon lives.
10:08Like, let's see where it is.
10:09And, and you don't know it until you, until you go past it sometimes.
10:13Tom kind of serves that role on the film.
10:16It's, I would describe it more as him bringing you along on his energy.
10:21And also he's taking part in the casting process.
10:24So there's the added factor that he chose you in the first place.
10:28So there's confidence that comes along with that.
10:30And then he pushes you and pushes you in a good way.
10:33Um, so he would be, yeah, he is my maverick.
10:35I think Tom pushed, pushed me every day, you know, with good reason.
10:39This is a really special film for him, a special character to come back and play.
10:43So we wanted to honor the original, but make sure that we tried to surpass it and tell our own
10:48story.
10:49Part of the great, I think, why this movie is resonating with so many people is that we're also seeing
10:53the evolution of this character.
10:55You know, you make different decisions when you're 25 than you do when you're 50.
10:59And different things mean different things to you.
11:02So responsibility means something very different when you're 25 than it does when you're 50.
11:07And loss and grief and friendship and duty and all of those things that are big themes in the film.
11:13Well, and life experience, too.
11:15You know, there's learning in the classroom and there's actually doing, which is another big theme of this movie.
11:19Yes, it is.
11:20And does that apply to acting also?
11:21Very much so.
11:22You know, you, you, it's, acting is a very weird thing in that you, you can't just practice it by
11:28yourself.
11:28Right.
11:29It's not violin playing or, or, or painting or something.
11:33You can't just go in a room by yourself and become an expert at it.
11:37You actually have to do it with other people and in front of an audience and, and get that kind
11:41of feedback.
11:41So there is the, the sense of the man in the arena for sure.
11:45What is one thing that Tom gave you guys that you will take away from this production and use with
11:50you for the rest of your career?
11:51I think the responsibility of, of like storytellers of always, of not being okay with just doing an okay job,
11:59you know?
12:00Like just always pushing the limit, no matter what type of, if it is a movie like Top Gun Maverick
12:04or if it's an indie drama, whatever it is,
12:06it's in pushing the envelope forward in our medium because we've, I mean, there's, I think I looked it up
12:12to like 500,000 movies in existence, right?
12:15Or something like, or a bigger number.
12:16And it's like, we can just always watch one of those.
12:19Or if we're going to bring something new to the table, it should have new life or just be pushed
12:24to the absolute limit.
12:25So I think that.
12:26It was sort of like, it's interesting because not only am I working with, you know, the icon that is,
12:30you know, Tom Cruise, but Ed Harris is like, I love that dude.
12:34I think I've seen The Abyss more than most people, probably too much.
12:38I think it may be a little bit unhealthy, my relationship with that movie, but he's a consummate professional.
12:43He's really nice guy.
12:44You know, even in the makeup trailer, he'd be chatting me up.
12:46And so I just, it was one of those experiences you have, which you kind of can't even think about
12:51it in real time.
12:51You kind of have to wait till you're finished with it at home and you're laying in bed going, did
12:55that shit really happen?
12:57That's so crazy.
12:58I got pictures.
12:58I guess it did.
13:00But yeah, it was, I mean, I feel very lucky.
13:03Good morning, aviators.
13:04Today's exercise is dog fighting.
13:06Two versus one, you've got to be kidding.
13:09Jay, how did growing up in a military family allow you to bring some more insight to the character?
13:13You know, I think the thing for me was like, there was this, like, this pride and this, like, respect
13:18and even responsibility,
13:19which I think everyone ended up feeling the responsibility, especially as we got to meet more of the pilots and
13:24more of the community, the aviation community at large.
13:26But for me, I remember the first time we drove on base at North Island and I was like, oh,
13:31this is my childhood.
13:32Like, growing through the gates, showing someone my ID.
13:35Like, this is literally, like, all these memories just started to pop back in my head.
13:39And I just had this sense of like, oh, I know that's the BX.
13:41That's the theater.
13:43Like, oh, there's a subway here.
13:44Yep, there's a subway on our base.
13:45There was all this familiarity that immediately just kind of kicked in for me.
13:51And I think I even found myself, with the exception of one night where we went out, I think I
13:57found myself even very much being, like, back on, like, the kind of clock that I was on when I
14:02was a kid.
14:03Like, you're up at this time.
14:04You do this thing.
14:05You hear the horns in the morning.
14:06You hear, right?
14:07Like, there were all these things that just started to kick in.
14:09And for me, it was just this immense, like, pride.
14:11And also, um, the responsibility of wanting to portray men and women who, you know, sacrifice their lives and time
14:21away from their family every single day to protect this country.
14:24We're going into combat on a level no living pilot's ever seen.
14:30Your reputation precedes you.
14:33I have to admit I wasn't expecting an invitation back.
14:36They're called orders, Maverick.
14:39Mr. Brockheimer, back in 1986, when a movie did as well as Top Gun, you would try to make a
14:44sequel out of it.
14:45Was there any push to maybe get a sequel going at that time?
14:48Yeah, there was.
14:49We certainly worked on it, but we got sidetracked with all the movies that we had to shoot right away.
14:55And that's kind of what happens in our business.
14:58And Tom went off and did a lot of terrific movies working with great directors and writers.
15:02And so it finally came together when there was some zeitgeists that wanted to say, it's about time we get
15:08this movie made.
15:09And thanks to Joe, he came up with a story that Tom loved.
15:13Just want to manage the expectations.
15:14What's the hardest part about having a movie get moved back when you know it's good?
15:19Anticipation is real.
15:20You know, you're just, we're so proud of the film.
15:24And we saw the movie, the cast and I saw the movie in deep pandemic, lockdown pandemic.
15:31We all went to a theater with masks on and we sat 10 seats apart.
15:35Right.
15:36And we were so thrilled with the movie.
15:38And then we were like, well, is it ever going to come out?
15:41We don't even know.
15:42So the fact that actually we're getting to share it now with the world is tremendously exciting.
15:47People ask me that.
15:49Man, you've got to be so bummed.
15:50This movie's not coming out and all these things.
15:52And I don't know.
15:53I think personally I've just never been, I would have been more anxious if it was delayed and it was
15:59horrible.
15:59Yeah, yeah.
16:00To be fair.
16:01But with everything else, I'm just really proud of the work we did.
16:04And I wouldn't have wanted it to come out if theaters weren't open and people didn't feel comfortable sitting next
16:10to each other and really kind of having that summer blockbuster experience.
16:15So I'm all good with it.
16:18I think it was always meant to be a huge community film and also, you know, epically on a big
16:27screen with a wonderful sound system.
16:30And I mean, they designed specific IMAX cameras for this film that could go in jets at certain speeds and
16:36pull Gs and all the things.
16:38And so to know that it required community and to know that we were so far away from being able
16:43to gather was, I think that was probably the hardest thing.
16:47What an answer.
16:48Yeah, it was good.
16:49I mean, what can you, you can't even say anything.
16:52I feel like I was never feeling like, like we got to get this thing out ASAP.
16:56Like we should put it out on streaming or anything.
16:58It felt very comfortable.
16:59Like I'm really glad that Paramount and Tom and Joe know that like there's no other way than in theaters
17:05with a, with a packed audience.
17:07Because this is how this film was meant to be seen.
17:09I mean, I think the hardest thing for me was just not being with you guys.
17:12Like for me, it was just like, oh, I wanted us to all, we had such a great time filming
17:16and bonded so much that, you know, it's very normal to go away for 10 months to a year.
17:22And then the movie, then you come back and you do your press tour and the movie comes out.
17:25And like, for me, it was like, oh, I can't wait to get back with the gang.
17:28Like, oh, it's like going back to school.
17:29It's like that morning before you go back to school and you can't sleep.
17:32And you know, like the outfit, did you guys ever do this?
17:34You like know exactly what you're going to wear.
17:35You're going to like look great.
17:36You're going to like say the cool thing and pick the right locker.
17:39But we never got to, we, it just got pushed out and pushed out.
17:41And finally, we're now at school.
17:43And I just feel excited to be here with you guys.
17:44And it's a great first day of school.
17:46It's a great first day.
17:47Thank you very much.
17:49Thank you, man.
17:51I appreciate that.
17:51It's really good to think about the reason that the release date was moving back and back.
17:54We were all going through a pandemic together.
17:57All of us.
17:58Nobody was excluded from that.
17:59You know, unless you had a super secret satellite somewhere, you could be on another planet for a while.
18:03But for most of us, you know, we really had to hunker down.
18:06And so for me, even though, yeah, you always want people to see stuff, but you want them to really
18:10experience it at the right time.
18:12And I feel like our movie now is this wonderful present kind of waiting for us at the end of
18:17this sort of long journey.
18:17It's coming out in a perfect time.
18:19You know, right after the pandemic, we were really fighting for the cinemas to stay open and keep pushing forward.
18:24We want people to be in the cinemas.
18:25And I think this is the perfect time.
18:27Timing is everything.
18:28When it ended, I said, oh, that's why they pushed it back.
18:31Exactly.
18:33You know what?
18:33We were all frustrated, but I got to say, Tom and Paramount did the right thing.
18:37This is the most cinematic movie I think I've ever seen in my whole life.
18:41Ever made.
18:41To see it with an audience, it's truly, it's like, there's nothing like it.
18:44You're kind of headed for extinction.
18:48Maybe so, sir.
18:51But not today.
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