‘Top Gun’ has turned 40, and to mark the occasion, key members of the film’s creative team are looking back on one of the most memorable behind-the-scenes stories from its making. The story involves a fighter jet, a phone booth, and a very unsettled stomach, and it has quickly become one of the most talked-about anniversary revelations of the week.Speaking with The Guardian, screenwriter Jack Epps Jr. and producer Jerry Bruckheimer both shared their recollections of getting Tom Cruise on board for the classic action drama, offering two slightly different but equally entertaining versions of the same unforgettable moment.
What happened when Tom Cruise took his first fighter jet ride
Epps recalled a group of US Navy pilots taking Cruise for a spin in a fighter jet shortly before he committed to starring in the film. The pilots, he said, had no idea who Cruise was at the time. “They look at him, and they don’t know who Tom Cruise is,” Epps said. “They do what they like to do: they took him up, they shook him around, he barfed on himself, and he came out and said, ‘I love this.’ From that moment, he was on.”Bruckheimer offered his own version of the story, recalling that he personally arranged the flight after struggling to get Cruise to fully commit to the project. “We couldn’t quite get him to commit, so I arranged for him to fly with the Blue Angels in El Centro, California,” he said. At the time, Cruise had long hair and a ponytail from his role in the 1985 film ‘Legend’, which prompted a reaction from the pilots. “He had long hair and a ponytail, and they saw this guy walk up and they said, ‘We’ll get this hippy a real ride.‘”Bruckheimer added, “They sure did, and he got out of the plane, walked to a phone booth, because there were no cell phones then, called me up, said, ‘I’m in.'”
Tom Cruise had already decided to do the film
As it turned out, Cruise had already made up his mind before the flight even happened. In a 2016 appearance on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’, he revealed that he had decided to star in ‘Top Gun’ after his very first meeting with Bruckheimer and director Tony Scott, but wanted to use his commitment as leverage to secure a ride with the Blue Angels.“I told my agent, ‘I’m going to make this movie, but don’t tell Jerry I want to make this movie, because I want to fly with the Blue Angels,'” he said. “You’ve got work these things, you know? I’m a businessman.” He also confirmed the mid-air incident. “I vomited with the Blue Angels,” he told Jimmy Kimmel.
The pilot who took Cruise on that famous flight
Blue Angels pilot Curt ‘Griz’ Watson previously shared his own account of the flight in a 2023 video interview. “We put him in the back of the 7 jet, and I took him out. We basically did some rolls and some loops,” he said. “I let him fly the airplane a little bit.” Watson also confirmed that Cruise called Bruckheimer directly after landing. “My understanding was that he came back from the flight and went directly to a phone booth and called the producer and said, ‘I’ll do it.‘”Watson added that he later received a personal note from Cruise. “I got a really nice letter from him that said, ‘Thanks for the ride, I appreciate it.’ And something to the effect of, ‘It really helped me with my character development for the movie.'”As of May 16, both ‘Top Gun’ and its sequel ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ are currently showing in theatres worldwide in celebration of the original film’s 40th anniversary.
