This article contains a brief discussion of sexual assault.
With the 2022 release of Top Gun: Maverick bringing back only two of the original Top Gun actors, Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer, the question remains what happened to its original stars, including Kelly McGillis, who was Maverick's girlfriend in Top Gun. Top Gun: Maverick took a chance bringing Penny Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly) into the story. The new Top Gun girlfriend was needed due to Maverick's breakup with Charlie in-universe. Outside the Top Gun: Maverick narrative though, there was a different reason Kelly McGillis didn't return for Top Gun 2.
Maverick's girlfriend in Top Gun was a warmly remembered element of the story, and many had spent the decades between Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick imagining they had a happily ever after. That wasn't the case, and — arguably quite realistically — the young lover's passionate-yet-whirlwind relationship ended. This wasn't necessarily the worst thing, as Jennifer Connelly's Penny was equally well received. However, this narrative decision was made by the Top Gun writers, and many (the still-very-much-active Kelly McGillis included) believe there's a specific reason Charlie was written out of Top Gun: Maverick.
What Kelly McGillis Did After Top Gun
In 1992, McGillis played Claire Ruth, Babe Ruth's second wife, opposite John Goodman, in Babe. She took to the skies again in 1998's Ground Control, starring Kiefer Sutherland, Henry Winkler, and Michael Gross. McGillis also reconnected with Top Gun: Maverick's Val Kilmer in 1999's At First Sight. She stepped back from the Hollywood scene after this, though, to deal with her ongoing substance abuse problem and to care for her two daughters with ex-husband Fred Tillman. She continued working in television movies during this time, then returned in 2008 with a role in Showtime's The L Word during its last season. That role also proved cathartic for her, as she came out the following year.
McGillis, who was Maverick's girlfriend in Top Gun, noted in multiple interviews around the time of the original Top Gun's release, "I have a phobia about not working. I love to work and I think that's the primary force that drives me." This drive, perhaps, kept her working up until her role in Dirty John, a USA series starring Rick & Morty guest Christian Slater and Amanda Peet, which ran from 2018-2020, now available on Netflix. Recently, McGillis was diagnosed with alpha one antitrypsin disorder, which causes damage to the lungs and liver. She is not currently working on any film or TV projects due to her receiving treatment for her illness. Clearly, though McGillis was not considered for a role in Top Gun: Maverick, she has enjoyed several significant high points in her career.
Kelly McGillis Thought She Was Too "Old" And "Fat" For Top Gun 2
Kelly McGillis believes her age and shape by the time Top Gun: Maverick entered development is the reason Maverick and Charlie weren't meant to be. In a 2019 interview (via Entertainment Today), Kelly McGillis noted she was neither informed of nor invited to star in Top Gun: Maverick, based on her perception that she was "old, fat, and I look age-appropriate for my age." Feeling shut out, McGillis explained she would not be recast because she refused to get plastic surgery or dye her now-gray hair back to blonde.
There's still the question of why Charlie wasn't still included though, even if she wasn't with Maverick anymore. Kelly McGillis is a talent in her own right. McGillis, who was Maverick's girlfriend in Top Gun and is known for her strong acting and unique voice, covered much ground in Hollywood over the past 35 years, starring in blockbuster movies, TV series, and television movies, even before Maverick and Charlie's Top Gun relationship and breakup. She also did her share of voice acting. In 1986, she was nominated for a BAFTA award and a Golden Globe for her role in 1985's Witness.
People Are Getting Kelly McGillis And Jennifer Connelly Confused
Jennifer Connelly plays the new Top Gun girlfriend in Top Gun: Maverick, and a lot of people are confusing her with Kelly McGillis. Call it just another example of the Mandela effect, but many people are under the assumption that Connelly was in the original Top Gun. This is probably due to a number of factors. Like McGillis, Jennifer Connelly was an 80s it-girl responsible for many iconic looks that graced the screen, particularly due to her girl-next-door charm. Many who were alive in the era looking back could be forgiven for misattributing her to more roles than she actually had — Top Gun included.
However, she was just beginning her acting career when Top Gun came out, and was only 16 and premiering in Labyrinth at the time it was being filmed. Another contributing factor to confusing the two actresses could just be attributed to the passing of time. After all, Top Gun came out 36 years before Top: Gun Maverick, and it's quite forgivable to forget that Jennifer Connelly wasn't in the original film. While Kelly McGillis' absence in the sequel film is felt, Connelly gave a stand-out performance, and it's quite a testament to the casting team that many people believe she was in the original movie.