Said the 60-year-old actor to ET’s Kevin Frazier, “I’m doing terrific. I sound like I’ve been run over by a cement mixer, [but] I feel fabulous. Some days are better than others, but I am very much improving, so, yeah, I’m going to work till I’m 150 years. I wanna play the oldest man on Earth.”
So what of Maverick’s love interest – Charlie played by Kelly McGillis – in the original Top Gun? She was also never asked to do the sequel.
McGillis responded to that by saying that she no longer fit the mold for a love interest in a blockbuster Hollywood movie. “I’m old, and I’m fat, and I look age-appropriate for what my age is [62]. And that is not what that whole scene is about,” she said.
So in walked Jennifer Connelly (age 48) to replace McGillis. Connelly is 14 years younger than McGillis and 9 years younger than Cruise. But McGillis doesn’t harbor any ill will toward Connelly, saying she is “glad for her.”
Tom “Viper” Skerritt, who is today just 3 years shy of 90, has a good excuse for not showing up as a supporting actor, because his character is now happily retired.
So keep your eyes peeled. Just a few more months before the Top Gun F-18 fighter jets return to the movie skies!
