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Glen Powell Reveals Tom Cruise Had to Convince Him to Take TOP GUN: MAVERICK Role

Photo from Glen Powell’s Instagram

Glen Powell Reveals Tom Cruise Had to Convince Him to Take TOP GUN: MAVERICK Role

By Movieguide® Contributor

Glen Powell recently revealed Tom Cruise had to convince him to star in TOP GUN: MAVERICK. 

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Powell explained that he auditioned for Rooster, a part that eventually went to Miles Teller. 

“Not getting it was so wounding to me that I was like, ‘Oh, I care too much,’” the actor said

The movie’s producers offered him another role, but Powell wasn’t interested in the character. 

“I wanted him to be reminiscent of Val Kilmer [who played Iceman] — a guy who was having fun saving the day,” he explained. “But I read the script, and I didn’t like this guy…and he wasn’t even a good pilot.” 

However, Cruise didn’t give up on Powell and sat down with the younger actor to talk about his career. Powell ended up taking the role in TOP GUN: MAVERICK and even got to work with the producers to change the character into one he was interested in playing. 

Powell is confirmed to return for TOP GUN 3, which he says he will approach with a different mindset after his real-life experiences with the Blue Angels

“I will say that after making TOP GUN and making DEVOTION, you really feel a sense of community in this Navy,” he explained. “When I look at my texts in the morning, the fact that a lot of ’em are call signs is very cool, and the fact that I still call these pilots my friends is really wonderful.”

Powell continued, “I will say that when we made TOP GUN: MAVERICK, that was a new shiny world for me. And now I feel that it’s still filled with brilliance. It’s still shiny to me, but it’s also a group of people I call my family. So, I can go into this movie in a different way. Maybe just the fact that it feels a little bit more lived in and a little more comfortable for all of us will be really wonderful.”

He previously spoke about the third TOP GUN movie with E! News, saying, “Whatever it is, I know we’re going to be flying cool stuff, that’s all I know.”

“It’s really nice when you make a movie that people want to see more, that’s been honestly the really cool part about this,” Powell continued. “You make a movie with people you really love, that you really connect with, and then maybe you get the chance to do it again. So we’ll see.”

Movieguide® previously reported on a documentary about the Blue Angels Powell produced:

Amazon MGM Studios recently revealed the trailer for THE BLUE ANGELS, a documentary about the U.S. Navy’s Flight Demonstration Squadron set to hit theaters in May.

“The doc, which hails from J.J. Abrams and TOP GUN: MAVERICK star Glen Powell, will jet to Imax for a one-week run from May 17-23 before it hits Prime Video worldwide on May 23,” Deadline reported.

“Paul Crowder directed the film, which goes inside the cockpit to show how one becomes a Blue Angel, from the selection process to the training regimen. A demanding eight-month show season follows,” Deadline said.

The footage displays aerial shots, filmed with IMAX cameras, of the planes performing stunts just feet apart.

“The first time you take off,” one pilot says in the trailer, per Deadline, “you’ve got to push the ‘I Believe’ button.”