Does Kelly McGillis Still Keep In Touch With Tom Cruise After Playing His Love Interest In Top Gun?

Highlights

• Kelly McGillis wasn't thrilled about playing Tom Cruise's love interest in Top Gun.
• Despite her reservations, McGillis had an ideal appreciation for Tom Cruise.
• McGillis and Cruise didn't spend a lot time in combination off-screen.

Kelly McGillis boasts a remarkable acting portfolio that spans film, television, and Broadway, however for many fanatics, her defining function stays Charlotte 'Charlie' Blackwood, Tom Cruise’s love interest in the 1986 blockbuster, Top Gun.

So intense was once the chemistry between Charlie and Maverick that many were convinced the two had been a real-life couple one day. Decades after her efficiency took Hollywood via storm, McGillis would retreat from the limelight, choosing a extra laid-back life in North Carolina. But the query lingers: does she still keep in touch with her Top Gun love interest, Tom Cruise?

How Did Kelly McGillis Feel About Playing Tom Cruise’s Love Interest In Top Gun?

It's been nearly three decades since Kelly McGillis shared the screen with Tom Cruise in the 1986 blockbuster, Top Gun, however the buzz around the position refuses to die down. While many imagine the position her defining second, in fact, McGillis wasn't exactly extremely joyful about taking it on.

"I didn't want to do it – there. But because I'd done Witness, I owed Paramount another film, and my agent said, 'You have to do this.' I took one look at it and said, 'This is like a western in the sky - I don't wanna do this,'” she admitted to The Guardian in a 2001 interview.

"It wasn't about performing, it used to be about being a cool animated film character. You know what I imply? I could have executed it blindfolded,” she continued. “I was thankful for the truth that it gave me alternatives I wouldn't another way have had. But I showed up for paintings, did my bit, hung out with a bunch of boys, performed baseball, and went house. It used to be like being at camp. Why they employed me I'll never know."

However, McGillis' sentiments in regards to the function don't extend to her co-star Tom Cruise, to whom she gave a reasonably glowing evaluation in her 2013 interview with Yahoo Entertainment. “I feel Tom is terrific,” she mentioned. “He's the sweetest guy. He could be very authentic and sincere and respectful. And I simply loved running with Tom. I feel he is glorious.”

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Despite her glowing review, McGillis admitted that she and the Mission: Impossible star didn't spend a lot of time together off-screen. “I’d hang out more with the other guys than I did Tom and Val [Kilmer],” she said. “But I know Val from Juilliard. He was a year ahead of me. And he would hang out with us and Tom would come by occasionally but mostly it was me and the boys.”

Did Kelly McGillis Keep In Touch With Tom Cruise After Playing His Love Interest In Top Gun?

Despite her reservations about the role, Kelly McGillis delivered a spectacular portrayal of Charlie in Top Gun. In fact, her performance was so convincing that fans couldn’t get over the idea that she and Tom Cruise weren’t a real-life couple.

"They come in asking, 'Where's Tom?' And I say, 'I do not know. I suppose he is elsewhere.' And they are saying, 'Well, are not you married?' I imply, those are adults, for Christ's sake,” McGillis shared with Guardian in 2001. “I've to say to them, 'That was a movie – it used to be pretend.'"

With such titillating chemistry, fans will have to surprise, did Cruise and McGillis keep in touch after their time on Top Gun lapsed? Well, it seems that that the co-stars’ off-screen bond might no longer were moderately as potent as enthusiasts believed.

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"Movies are extraordinary issues. I do not truly keep in touch with anyone [from Top Gun]," McGillis admitted to Entertainment Tonight in a 2019 interview. "I think I've spoken to a few folks every now and then, but in actual fact, movies are very bizarre paintings situations as a result of you have got a large number of individuals who come together from all different parts of the sector."

Why Didn't Kelly McGillis Reprise Her Role In Top Gun: Maverick?

Decades after Top Gun's spectacular theatrical run, the sequel to the 1986 blockbuster, Top Gun: Maverick, hit the big screen. Starring familiar favorites Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer, the film premiered to overwhelming acclaim, raking in a colossal $1.496 billion at the box office.

Noticeably absent from the cast lineup were the female leads from the prequel; Kelly McGillis and Meg Ryan. As it turns out, the two weren’t even asked to reprise their roles. "Those were not tales that we have been throwing around,” director Joseph Kosinski said of the omission in an interview with Insider. “I did not want each storyline to all the time be taking a look backwards. It used to be necessary to introduce some new characters."