By now โ and much to the relief of millions โ you will have probably heard about how Joseph Kosinskiโs Top Gun: Maverick is a high-flying triumph. You will have also probably heard about how audiences collectively lost their shit experiencing the first 13 minutes alone, how critics are calling the long-awaited sequel โeven betterโ than the original directed by Tony Scott in every conceivable way. Perhaps youโve even gleaned our own review published this time last week, which called it โthe most fun youโll have in cinemasโ all year. But now, itโs time to hear from the people behind Top Gun: Maverick themselves in an interview BH had the distinct privilege of conducting.
โWe definitely wanted to do another after the first one became such a success,โ legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer reveals to BH.
โBut it took [director] Joe Kosinski โ who came up with the story โ we flew to Paris where Tom was filming Mission: Impossible at the time, we pitched him the story. Joe had a lookbook. He had a poster. And he pitched what you saw. And Tom loved it. Thatโs how we got it going.โ
RELATED: โTop Gun: Maverickโ Is (Probably) The Most Fun Youโll Have In Cinemas This Year
โAfter that, Tom picked up the phone, called the head of Paramount, and said: โI want to make another Top Gun.โ And here we areโฆ talking about it with you.โ
Bruckheimer adds: โOn the first one, the US Navy didnโt want to have anything to do with us. The Admiral of the base in Miramar where the TOPGUN school was didnโt want us there. But Tom and I flew to Washington DC and met with the Secretary of Defence, and he said, โI understand what this could do for the Navy.'โ
โThat Admiral was replaced and we had some co-operation, quite a bit of co-operation. But for Top Gun: Maverick, they had open arms. Recruiting went up 500% after the movie. So we got their best pilots, we got their best advisors, they allowed us on the carrier โ we did some phenomenal things.โ
โTom was in the F/A-18 being filmed. All the actors were in the F/A-18 being filmedโฆ It took them three months in four different planes before they actually got to feel the F/A-18.โ
Check out our interview with Top Gun: Maverick stars Jon Hamm and Miles Teller below.
Top Gun: Maverick Interview
A Chat With Jon Hamm & Miles Teller
Everyoneโs been talking about how daunting itโd be to shoot the flight sequences thousands of feet above ground. But the prospect of touching a legacy as beloved and revered as that of Top Gun alone surely wouldโve been terrifying enough. Was there a defining moment or particular element of this entire production that convinced you to sign on?
Jon Hamm: Sure. The main element was the fact that it was Top Gun and the fact that it was Tom Cruise. So those two elements combine to make it a pretty easy decision to want to be a part of. Itโs a pretty out-of-body experience to be a part of something like this, that meant so much to me โ personally โ and my friends, and people of my generation.
It was a pretty seminal piece of filmmaking back in 1986. And while I wouldnโt say it made me want to become an actor, it certainly defined what it meant to be cool for a certain generation. And this is continuing that legacy.
Was every day sort of like a pinch-me moment?
Jon Hamm: [Laughs.] Yeah, yeah. Pretty much every day had some element of that. Itโs a pretty special feeling to be able to work with an actor of Mr Cruiseโs magnitude. Heโs one of the last kind of true movie stars with a capital โMโ and a capital โS.โ They donโt make โem like that anymore, really. It was pretty fun to come to work, Iโll say that.
So the novelty never really wore off?
Jon Hamm: Not for me. Itโs actually still happening. Even when I do stuff like this and I look at the poster and think, โWowโฆ thatโs pretty cool. Iโm part of that.โ
RELATED: Tom Cruise Pilots Helicopter Onto Aircraft Carrier For โTop Gun: Maverickโ Premiere
On a scale of 1 to 10, how relieved were you to discover you didnโt have to go through Tom Cruiseโs pilot boot camp or shoot any scenes in the sky?
Jon Hamm: About 30 on that scale. Had I been about 20 years younger, that wouldโve been an exciting challenge, I think. At my ripe old age, itโs probably less of a challenge and more of aโฆ painful prospect. But I was impressed by all the young actors going through that. They took it very seriously, as they had to. And the results are right up there on the screen. Itโs impressive what they accomplished.
So there wasnโt even an offer to have you up there to test some g-force?
Jon Hamm: There might have been offers, I think I politely declined [Laughs.].
Is this your way of telling us we shouldnโt be expecting a Top Gun: Cyclone?
Jon Hamm: [Laughs.] I donโt think so. Thatโs the sequel that no oneโs demanding.
Top Gun: Maverick can be interpreted as a metaphor for modern filmmaking. Everyone keeps telling Maverick what canโt be done, how itโs all about the next-gen technology, how he should let go of the past, etc.
But, as we know, both the film and Maverick prove the naysayers wrong. Practical effects still have a place in cinema, the spirited rebel can still get the job done. As a Hollywood veteran, whatโs your take on the current CGI-heavy landscape?
Jon Hamm: You knowโฆ first of all, thatโs a very interesting take. I think itโs true to a certain extent. I think the advances CGI has enabled in storytelling have made certain genres of film much more vibrant and exciting. I donโt think you โ if you look at the superhero movies back in the 80s and now, theyโre very different. And thatโs all great.
But what I think weโve made is a movie about heroes and about exciting people doing exciting things that arenโt wearing capes. Theyโre not mutants or gods or monsters or anything. Theyโre real people doing real things. And I think thereโs still plenty of room in the filmmaking landscape to tell those stories as well.
What was the process of training to handle the technical aspects of capturing your own footage on top of training to handle the G-force like?
Miles Teller: Tom [Cruise] kinda built like a flight plan for myself and all the other young actors that were going to be in the jet. We started in the Cessna, which is the basic aircraft that you start in if you want to get your pilotโs license. So we started with that and we kept moving upโฆ the flight training became more and more aggressive. And yeah, itโs really tough, like you said, to get in a fighter jet with these pilots, and to sit in a briefing.
For us, it got to the point where we had to explain everything we were doing in an aircraft. Not just as a pilot, but also as an actor. And then also as a cinematographer, because youโre still making a movie, so you have to make sure the lighting is right, and continuity, and highlines, and all these kinds of things. It was a lot. There were a lot of things you had to think about when you were up in the jet but it was worth it. They didnโt think weโd be able to get one camera in the cockpit. We were able to get six in there.
RELATED: โTop Gun: Maverickโ Has Been Cut Down From 800 Hours Of Footage
Was the first thought every time you landed, โGodโฆ I hope I got that shot?โ
Miles Teller: 100%. The way the cameras worked, youโd press โSTARTโ on it. But there was a bit of a delay. And then a red light would come on and you were recording. Sometimes youโd press it and you werenโt quite sure you pressed it the right way, then the red light was kind of taking a long time. One time, I pressed it again and thatโs when we realised thatโs how you delete all the footage. Not for the whole movie. But for that flight.
That was the worst partโฆ when youโd get back, if you deleted something, but also then watch the footage in front of Tom and [executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer] and [director Joseph Kosinski] and everybody, and then all of the Naval aviators, and then all the TOPGUN instructors. There was no worse feeling than knowing you had to reshoot whatever you just did because it was so tough.
Out of curiosity, how many Gs did you personally hit?
Miles Teller: On the F/A-18, we were maxing out on 7.5. In some of the earlier flight training, we were getting up over 8.
You wouldโve been in decent shape off the back of shooting Bleed For This and Only The Brave, but you looked next-level in this. I remember when the paparazzi shot of you next to your truck went viral and everyone was like, โHoly shitโฆ did you see how jacked Miles Teller got?โ What were the physical requirements of your preparation like?
Miles Teller: Yeahโฆ I donโt even know if that was paparazzi. I probably had someone take those photos and I probably leaked it to the press myself [Laughs.].
It was really gruelling. And, honestly, the director told me, โMiles โ in the first movie, Goose was the only guy who has his shirt on for the volleyball scene. So you donโt have to worry about getting into shape and all that.โ But I didnโt want to be like theโฆ I mean, itโs Top Gun. I knew how much the other actors were training. Even though fighter pilots in real life, they could give two shits about abs because itโs more about tolerance. And flying is so gruelling. Yeah, it was a lot of work.
Top Gun: Maverick will be exclusively available to experience in theatres on May 26th โ you can read our spoiler-free review here and watch the epic final trailer below.
