“Top Gun: Maverick” is the perfect example of chasing after excellence. Tom Cruise, who headline 1986’s “Top Gun,” refused for decades to create a sequel that wouldn’t live up to the original. When it came time to bring the follow-up to life, “Top Gun: Maverick” director Joseph Kosinski only had one shot to pitch it to Cruise. Luckily, Kosinski prevailed, resulting in one of the greatest sequels ever made. While there’s definitely some CGI in the billion-dollar film, Cruise and Co. desperately wanted to create an authentic film that used real fighter jets. This meant putting actors in the cockpits of some of the fastest planes on Earth.
The fighter jets in the picture were flown by real military personnel, with the film’s actors merely on board as passengers. However, their reactions during key moments were absolutely real, with some of the stars — except two — actually getting sick because of the maneuvers used by the pilots. “A lot of them still threw up in the planes. Except for Monica [Barbaro] – she’s the only one that could handle the G-forces better than the other actors,” producer Jerry Bruckheimer told Total Film. The other actor who didn’t throw up? Cruise, of course.
Bruckheimer explained that everything audiences in the film see is authentic, including the cast’s reactions during the high-octane flying sequences. “When you see the expressions on their faces – they’re not acting,” the producer explained. “When you see the plane going straight up, they’re going straight up. When you see the plane upside down, they’re upside down,” he added.
Of course Tom Cruise didn’t get sick during Top Gun: Maverick … he’s Tom Cruise
In “Top Gun: Maverick,” Monica Barbaro plays Phoenix, one of the pilots assigned to Maverick’s team for the final mission. She, alongside the rest of the cast, had to deal with tons of prep work before cameras started rolling on the “Top Gun” sequel. Her work ethic, as well as her ability to adjust to high speeds, was apparent from the get-go. Barbaro was the only new star who didn’t get violently ill during the film’s intense training sequences. Her capacity to remain composed during those key early days in training led to her not getting sick during production, and neither did Tom Cruise.
While speaking with The A.V. Club, Barbaro star opened up about how Cruise designed a rigorous special program for the actors to get in tune with flying planes. “He sort of gave us backstory in that we spent all this time learning how to fly a basic aircraft, takeoffs, landings, all of that, the lingo,” she said. And with that in mind, it makes sense that Cruise didn’t get sick during filming. After all, the “Mission: Impossible” actor is more than just an enthusiast flyer — he’s a veteran at this point. The superstar is so obsessed with aviation that he used one of his own planes for the final scene of “Top Gun: Maverick”.
While it’s unclear if Barbaro will ever return to the high skies again, Cruise’s behavior has been rubbing off on others. After working with the action junkie, “Maverick” star Glen Powell became a pilot. Here’s hoping the “Anyone But You” takes cues from Barbaro and Cruise and doesn’t get sick!