5 curiosities you didn’t know about Top Gun
This week it hits theaters’Top Gun: Maverick‘, the long-awaited sequel to the 1986 classic starring Tom Cruise. After a long wait as a result of the problems related to the coronavirus pandemic, fans will finally be able to enjoy one of the most anticipated films of the year.
‘top gun‘ premiered in 1986 and meant the launch to stardom of Tom Cruisewho had already starred in big hits like ‘Rebeldes’ and ‘Risky Business’.
However, the film directed by Tony Scott confirmed the talent of Cruisewho would later develop a successful career with leading stars in films such as ‘Cocktail’, ‘Rain Man’, ‘Jerry Maguire’, ‘Magnolia’, ‘Mission Impossible’, among others.
Here we will review some curiosities few known about ‘top gun‘, the film that confirmed the stardom of Tom Cruise:
5 curiosities you didn’t know about Top Gun
- There were many actors who aspired to keep the role of Maverick that he ended up playing Cruise. Actors who came close to landing the role of Maverick include Sean Penn, Matthew Modine, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Matthew Broderick, Michael J. Fox and Tom Hanks.
- Tony Scott wasn’t the only candidate to direct the eighties classic either. John Carpenter and David Cronenberg competed to direct the film before Tony Scott (Ridley’s brother) finally signed on.
- The romantic elevator scene between Charlie and Maverick was filmed after the film passed audience tests and viewers asked for more romantic moments. Kelly McGillis had actually cut and dyed her hair darker for another movie, for which she wears a cap in the scene.
- The height of McGillis (1.78 m.) compared to that of Cruise (1.70 m.) was a problem for the studio. The actress was asked to perform barefoot after she expressed concern about her height difference.
- As everyone remembers, there was a lot of tension between the characters of Maverick and Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, the character of Val Kilmer. That’s not quite acting. The two never interacted on set and did not get along. Time seems to smooth things over, because Kilmer reappears in the sequel.