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Tom Cruise was very young when he was in Top Gun in 1986. There has been a huge time gap between the original and the sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
It’s been almost 40 years since the first ‘Top Gun’hit theaters and became an action classic thanks to its aerial stunts, its soundtrack and the emotional story of Lt. Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, portrayed by no other than Tom Cruise, who was taking his first steps in his acting career.
However, the story won’t end there as Cruise will return for the sequel, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, which will be released on May 27. This time Captain Mitchell will train a new group of pilots, including the son of his best friend Goose, Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw (Miles Teller).
The sequel, which suffered delays and setbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is receiving praise from critics who call it “thrilling” and “emotional”. So, if you want to take the road down to the memory lane, here check out the ages of the original cast in the first one.
Top Gun: The ages of the original cast
‘Top Gun’ was one of the first big lead roles for Cruise, who was just starting his career in Hollywood. He was just 23 years old when he filmed the role. After this movie, which was released in 1986, he became one of the most coveted actors and starred in hit after hit, including the first ‘Mission Impossible’ and ‘Jerry McGuire’, which cemented his stardom in the 90s.
Meanwhile, his co-star Kelly McGillis was 27 years old when she portrayed Charlotte, the romantic lead. She’s currently 64 years old and, when it was known that she wasn’t going to appear in the second film, many headlines pointed out to the fact that she’s older than Cruise, 59, who is usually paired with younger co-stars than him such as Jennifer Connelly, who is 51 years old.
On the other hand, Val Kilmer portrayed Lt. Tom Kazanski, aka Iceman, when he was 27 years old and Anthony Edwards, who played Maverick’s best friend Goose, was 24 years old at the time of the filming. Finally, Meg Ryan, who was Goose’s wife, was 24 years old and it was only her second film ever.