Original Top Gun star Kelly McGillis reveals why she won’t be in the sequel

She was Tom Cruise’s leading lady in the original film, but there’s a very good reason Kelly McGillis won’t be returning for the sequel.

Don’t expect to see Tom Cruise’s original Top Gun love interest in the sequel.

According to Kelly McGillis, who played Charlie in the 1986 action drama, she was not asked to participate in the upcoming sequel Top Gun: Maverick despite many of her co-stars appearing in the film.

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Kelly McGillis’ character is wooed by Maverick in an iconic karaoke moment in the original movie.

McGillis told Entertainment Tonight she didn’t plan on attending any events for Top Gun: Maverick for a variety of reasons, not least because she has yet to be asked: “It hasn’t happened,” she said, adding, “I don’t really keep in touch with anybody.”

In 1986, McGillis broke out in a major way when she played Top Gun’s Charlotte “Charlie” Blackwood, an astrophysicist and Topgun instructor. Cruise’s Maverick quickly falls for Charlie, and the film ends (spoilers ahead for a 30-year-old movie, I guess) with them reuniting at a bar near the base. After Top Gun, McGillis went on to star in a series of high-profile projects, including Made in Heaven, The Accused, and The Babe.

When asked if she planned on attending any red carpets or promotional events for Joseph Kosinski’s Top Gun: Maverick, McGillis was clear.

“I don’t know how to answer that because one, it hasn’t happened,” the 62-year-old actress told ET. “Two, if and when it did happen, I would have to assess where I am, what I’m doing, what’s going on … I can’t project what I would or wouldn’t do in the future. I have no idea because I don’t know where I’ll be.”

She insisted she had no hard feelings about being left out of the sequel. Picture: Getty

“Movies are odd things. I don’t really keep in touch with anybody,” McGillis continued. “I think I’ve spoken to a couple of people occasionally, but the truth is, movies are very odd work situations because you have a lot of people who come together from all different parts of the world.”

She added while she was yet to see the Top Gun: Maverick trailer, she harboured no ill-will towards Maverick’s new love interest, played by Jennifer Connelly. “I’m glad for her,” said McGillis, noting she’s “so glad that (Connelly) got that opportunity”.

Top Gun: Maverick hits theatres in June 2020.

This article originally appeared on Decider and was reproduced with permission