Kelly McGillis has mostly retreated from the spotlight since co-starring in the blockbuster
action-flick Top Gun.
However, fans were still baffled when the actress was excluded from the upcoming sequel.
So was McGillis upset by the snub?
The answer may surprise you.
The much-anticipated Top Gun: Maverick will soon be soaring into theaters and based on
early reviews, it's already shaping up to be one of the summer's biggest hits.
As of May 2022, the film is sitting at a whopping 97% on Rotten Tomatoes based on over 100 reviews,
with critics saying the film "surpasses its predecessor in wildly entertaining style."
Only time will tell how the general public reacts, but it looks like it's got promise.
Set 30 years after the original, Top Gun: Maverick sees the return of plenty of familiar
faces as well as a few new ones.
Of course, Tom Cruise is set to return as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a top Navy test
pilot and flight school instructor.
Also reprising his Top Gun role is Val Kilmer as "Iceman," now the commander of the U.S.
Pacific fleet, who sends Maverick on a specialized mission training a group of Top Gun graduates.
But one major character fans will surely miss is Maverick's original love interest, Charlie,
played by Kelly McGillis.
Although she played a large role in the first Top Gun, Charlie is noticeably missing from
the sequel.
In a surprising move, McGillis was not asked to return for the sequel.
Instead, Jennifer Connelly is set to star alongside Tom Cruise as Maverick's new love
interest.
McGillis said that while she didn't know the 51-year-old Connelly, she was glad that Connelly
got the opportunity.
Overall, it doesn't seem McGillis holds any hard feelings for the actor stepping in.
However, she did not hold back when ET asked her if she was contacted to appear in the
new film, saying,
"Oh my God no they did not, and nor do I think they would ever."
McGillis went on to add:
"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."
She was also asked if she was attending any of the film's promotional events, to which
she replied,
"You know what, I don't know how to answer that because one, it hasn't happened.
Two, if and when it did happen, I would have to assess where I am, what I'm doing, what's
going on."
She went on to express support for Connelly in her new role, though it's clear the actress
holds Hollywood beauty standards in low regard.
In an interview with Insider a couple of weeks before Top Gun: Maverick's premiere, director
Joseph Kosinski gave his side of the story as to why McGillis and Meg Ryan weren't brought
back.
In Top Gun, Ryan played Carole, wife of Maverick's wingman Goose, played by Anthony Edwards.
While it might make sense why Charlie wouldn't be brought back, since Maverick has a new
love interest, Carole's absence is more questionable, since so much of Top Gun: Maverick is about
Maverick training Goose's son, Rooster.
Kosinksi explained to Insider:
"I didn't want every storyline to always be looking backwards.
It was important to introduce some new characters."
Instead of bringing back Charlie, Top Gun: Maverick will focus on Maverick's relationship
with his new love interest, as well as his relationships with Rooster and Iceman.
Since Top Gun premiered in 1986, Kelly McGillis continued appearing in occasional film and
TV projects throughout the 1990's and 2000's.
She appeared as Colonel Gillian Davis in Season 5 of The L Word in 2008, and she had a guest-starring
role on the 2020 series Dirty John.
However, McGillis' days as a top-billed star are long behind her, and that's by design.
In the same interview with ET, McGillis spoke about her shift in priorities since the Top
Gun days.
When she initially decided to stop pursuing acting projects, she did so in order to spend
time with her two daughters, and to focus on her sobriety.
Describing her life as an actress, McGillis told ET:
"It was very challenging for me to have any kind of sense of self or self-identity or
real self-worth other than what I did for a living."
McGillis didn't have one moment of realization that led to a change.
She described it as more of a gradual shift in priorities.
While she continued to love acting, especially for theater, her relationships with her loved
ones became more important.
As of 2013, McGillis was living in Hendersonville, North Carolina, where she was teaching at
a small acting studio.
In an interview with Yahoo, McGillis had this to say about her current life:
"I live a quiet, little life.
I live in a log cabin on top of the hill in North Carolina and it is lovely."
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