Starring in a huge action movie is always going to require a certain level of training to prepare for a role. For the cast of the upcoming Top Gun 2, their boot camp had a very specific goal in mind when getting its stars ready for the movie – they wanted to create a clan of “mini Tom Cruises”.
As the long-awaited sequel to a bonafide ‘80s classic, Top Gun: Maverick has a lot to live up to. The movie will see Tom Cruise reprise his role as the charming fighter pilot Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, alongside Jennifer Connelly, Val Kilmer, Jon Hamm, and Ed Harris. Top Gun: Maverick is being directed by Joseph Kosinski, who worked with Cruise previously on the sci-fi movie Oblivion.
Miles Teller will also star in Top Gun 2, as he leads a group of new recruits to the naval fleet which are set to be mentored by Cruise’s Maverick. But, if you want to fly with the best, you have to be the best! And that’s exactly what the training boot camp for Top Gun 2 aimed to achieve.
Teller was speaking to Total Film Magazine recently, and he offered an insight into the training regime he and his fellow Top Gun actors had to go through in order to prepare for their roles.
“We were all mini Toms making this movie,” says Teller. “He put us through… I’ll just call it a ‘Tom Cruise boot camp’. We were getting in killer shape,” he added.
“For the stunts and stuff that Tom does in movies, it’s usually a very specific type of training. You’re not just going into the gym and lifting some weights,” Teller explains. “We did flight training for three months before we started filming… We got put through the wringer,” the actor concluded.
We know how much Cruise loves practical stunts, so it’s no surprise that he wanted his co-stars to match his commitment levels on the Top Gun 2 set. The movie releases on May 27, 2022.