‘Maverick’ director explains why Kelly McGillis and Meg Ryan were not asked to be in the sequel

By Lisa Respers France, CNN

“Top Gun: Maverick” director Joseph Kosinski is sharing why original female cast members from “Top Gun” were not invited to participate in the film’s sequel.

In an interview with “Insider,” Kosinski said he did not consider bringing back Kelly McGillis, who played the love interest of Tom Cruise’s character, “Maverick” Mitchell, and Meg Ryan, who played the wife of Nick “Goose” Bradshaw (played by Anthony Edwards).

“Those weren’t stories that we were throwing around,” he said.

The new movie touches on the 1986 blockbuster with the return of original cast member Val Kilmer as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky and a new storyline featuring Maverick training Goose’s son, “Rooster” Bradshaw, portrayed by Miles Teller.

“I didn’t want every storyline to always be looking backwards,” Kosinski explained. “It was important to introduce some new characters.”

McGillis told “Entertainment Tonight” in 2019 that she was not invited to participate in the sequel and addressed whether she was close to her former cast members.

“Movies are odd things. I don’t really keep in touch with anybody,” she said. “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.”

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