Top Gun: Maverick was commissioned to develop or surpass the original film for OG Top Gun fans. He overcame this huge obstacle, but initially it was not a foregone conclusion, as the expectations of the fans were extremely high. Of course, no one knew this better than “Gallows” actor Glen Powell. The creation of the long-delayed sequel was accompanied by the expected pressure, but Powell spoke about the advice Tom Cruise gave him and the actors to get through it.
The star of The Top Gun: Maverick admitted to People that the blockbuster was already a difficult situation for him. At first, being around Tom Cruise and mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer was overwhelming, but as the film progressed, everything changed. Glen Powell enjoyed learning from Hollywood titans, and he called this experience “the next level” for himself as an actor. But the pressure went beyond the set, as he and the cast were concerned about the inflated expectations of fans of the original film, so as not to spoil the legacy. According to him:
When you have a movie the size of “The Best Shooter,” there are a lot of expectations from how you play a certain character. You don’t want to be derivative. You don’t want to get stuck in the 80s. You’re trying to find a way to update things. When you have so many expectations, there are many ways to miss. There are many ways to fail.
Given that it took 36 years to create the sequel, there could not have been pressure for it to perform or surpass the original film. Of course, the audience and critics did not shower the sequel of “The Best Shooter” with laudatory reviews, and some even said that it was better than the first film. It also robbed Titanic of an incredible box office. But the key to the film’s success was to pay homage to the 1986 aviation film and pave a new path.
But this does not mean that it was easy to shoot the sequel to the blockbuster. Glen Powell recalled that there was “a lot of pressure” on him and his co-stars along with Tom Cruise. He said that the Hollywood star gave the young actors good advice while they continued to work on “The Best Shooter: Maverick.” Powell recalled that Cruz called pressure a “privilege” when challenging himself as an actor.
Tom said this phrase: “Pressure is a privilege.” When there is an expectation of something, it also means that there are many possibilities.
It seems that Cruz knew that “pressure creates diamonds.” But, having starred in several box office hits, Tom Cruise found himself in the same place as the young star, especially in the original film “The Best Shooter”. He just wanted Powell and his film partners to do their best and not worry about reproducing the characters from the first film. This seemed incredibly important to the Executioner Glen Powell, as he might seem like a pale imitation of the Ice Man Val Kilmer. But, fortunately, Powell has taken a unique place in the legacy of Top Gun.
Extolling Tom Cruise is nothing new for Glen Powell, as the Maverick actor has spoken about advice from the “Mission Impossible” star in the past. Of course, Powell lost the role of the Rooster to his partner in the film Miles Teller, which is why he almost gave up the role of the Hangman. This continued until a Hollywood veteran gave the 33-year-old actor valuable advice on how to choose great movies and do great roles. But changing the trajectory of his career was just a preview of what it’s like to be around Cruz. The “Scream Queens” actor shared incredible stories about how the 60-year-old actor behaves on set, including creating a training program for actors to get used to overloading planes.
Right now, Glen Powell is on a high, preparing for the release of the real-life war drama “Loyalty”, which will be released in theaters on November 23. He already has another project in the works, as Powell and Nick Jonas team up to create the comedy “International Relations.” . So he seems to have taken Tom Cruise’s words to heart. While viewers are waiting for these films, they can watch Powell’s “The Gallows” in “The Best Shooter: Maverick” by subscribing to Amazon Prime to buy a sequel.
