Kelly McGillis Has A Straightforward Response For Why She Wasn’t Asked To Be In ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

The new Top Gun: Maverick trailer delivered what audiences wanted by highlighting Tom Cruise’s continuing need for speed. The film might also be a meditation on the career of the 57-year-old action juggernaut, which would dive deep alongside folks’ excitement to revisit Maverick alongside the likes of Ed Harris, Jon Hamm, and Jennifer Connolly. Notably (although we haven’t seen him yet), Val Kilmer (aged 59) will be reprising his iconic “Iceman” role as well, but one prominent star from the 1986 classic is not on the return list.

That would be Kelly McGillis, who played Maverick’s love interest. The 62-year-old actress got real with Entertainment Tonight when quizzed on whether she was asked by producers to appear in the sequel:

“No, they did not, and nor did I think they would, ever … I’m old and I’m fat and I look age-appropriate for what my age is, and that is not what that whole scene is about. But … I’d much rather feel absolutely secure in my skin and who and what I am at my age as opposed to placing a value on all that other stuff.”

McGillis has maintained a consistent smattering of roles (including Love Finds You in Sugar Creek, Ohio, for which she appeared below for a 2014 TCA tour) since the 1980s, although she’s largely retired from the spotlight and now lives in North Carolina. She further told ET that her priorities shifted, and she still loves acting, but “[m]y relationships to other people became far more important than my relationship to fame.” Further, McGillis sounded completely upbeat during the interview while insisting that she’s “glad for” Connelly, who’s stepping into the love interest role for the sequel, which will arrive on June 26, 2020.