Kelly McGillis, who played Tom Cruise’s love interest in the original Top Gun movie, said she was not asked to return for the upcoming Maverick sequel – and she didn’t mince words explaining why she thinks that is.
Asked by Entertainment Tonight if the makers of the new film offered her a part, the 62-year-old replied: “Oh god no. They did not, nor do I think they would ever. 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.”
However, Kelly didn’t appear to feel slighted by the snub.
“I’d much rather feel absolutely secure in my skin and who and what I am at my age, as opposed to placing a value on all that other stuff,” she said.
But Kelly did add that she’s not feeling the need for speed to go and watch Top Gun: Maverick, which scheduled to for release in 2020.
“I’m not racing to the theatre, and I’m not racing away from the theatre to see it,” she said.
HuffPost has reached out to a Paramount rep for comment.
Kelly played astrophysicist and training school instructor Charlie Blackwood in the 1986 original about cocky Navy fighter pilots, who fell for Tom’s character, Maverick.
Jennifer Connelly has been cast as the new movie’s love interest. Top Gun: Maverick also brings back Val Kilmer, 59, as Maverick’s rival Iceman.
It will also star Jon Hamm, Lewis Pullman and Charles Parnell, while Miles Teller plays Goose’s son.
The action sequel – set to be released 34 years after the 1986 original – sees Maverick as a flight instructor at the Top Gun school, where he guides the son of Goose from the original film to be the pilot his father was.
A recently released trailer opens with Ed Harris’ character, a high-ranking military official, telling Maverick he is a “dinosaur” in the modern world of aviation.
Top Gun: Maverick is set to be released in June 2020. Watch the trailer above.