Top Gun: Maverick actor Lewis Pullman reportedly couldn’t hold back his vomit while performing in the upcoming sequel’s flight scenes. The long-awaited follow-up to Tony Scott’s 1986 classic Top Gun will see Tom Cruise return to his role as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell after over three decades. In addition to Cruise’s return, the sequel was directed by Joseph Kosinski, who previously collaborated with Cruise on Oblivion.
Bringing Tom Cruise’s aviator persona to the modern era, Top Gun: Maverick catches up with the titular pilot as he returns to the San Diego-based Naval academy. The film will see him work with a new group of fighter pilots while exploring Maverick’s legacy as a Navy legend alongside old friends such as Val Kilmer’s Iceman. In addition to Pullman, who will portray one of the new aviators in the squadron, Top Gun: Maverick’s supporting cast includes newcomers such as Glen Powell (Everybody Wants Some!), Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Jennifer Connelly (Alita: Battle Angel), and Miles Teller (Whiplash) as the son of Maverick’s original Navigator, Goose.
TMZ recently caught up with the Bad Times at the El Royale star to ask him about his experience working on Top Gun: Maverick. In Pullman's comments about working on the film, the actor noted that he had some initial hesitations about starring in the long-awaited sequel. However, the actor admitted that he had plenty of fun making the sequel under Cruise’s tutelage, even if some of the aviation stuntwork made him vomit when the cameras stopped rolling. Pullman said:
Dude, I didn’t think [it was the movie for me] at first. But when you’re like getting a rundown of aviation from Tom Cruise, you can’t help but be excited about it. [He’s] the best, man. And everything you’ll see in the movie he did in real life. He was like a mentor… Dude I puked so much [in the plane]. I’ll be the first to admit it. Never on camera though. The real Top Gunners don’t puke.
From the earliest images revealed of Top Gun: Maverick, the people involved have largely sold the film on the sheer amount of practical aviation stuntwork used in production. In fact, Kosinski and the Top Gun: Maverick crew built brand new cameras to capture the flight sequences properly. Combine that with Pullman’s description of the experience and it’s possible that Top Gun: Maverick could deliver even more awe-inspiring aerial cinematography than the first film.
Pullman’s quote should generate a lot of excitement in terms of what the sequel has in store for longtime Top Gun fans. Cruise arguably became synonymous with aviation when the first film debuted in 1986. Still, he has increasingly upped the ante with his willingness to get into a cockpit and truly fly on camera. Movies like American Made and Mission: Impossible – Fallout saw him do some death-defying aerial stunts. Now he’s going to bring his real-world flight experience to the Top Gun universe and Cruise is taking his younger co-stars along for the ride.
The tease of the incredible aerial spectacle in Top Gun: Maverick also serves as a reminder of the film’s multiple delays. Although the first trailer for the movie debuted in July 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic caused various delays that pushed it further and further from its initial July 2020 release date. These delays have likely only increased anticipation among those who have already waited 35 years for a Top Gun sequel. Audiences will return to the Danger Zone with Maverick and the new Top Gun Academy pilots when Top Gun: Maverick hits theaters later this year on November 19.
Source: TMZ
