A Look at Other Actors Considered for Maverick on “Top Gun”

The hysteria around the long awaited second installment of Top Gun has reached a fever pitch. Recently our editors found an interesting article in the UK’s Mirror with several fact about the iconic movie that starred Tom Cruise that we found interesting. These included:

• Fans that watched the movie in early editing LOVED the love scenes and wanted more of them. It is interesting to see the lengths the filmmakers went to accommodate that demand.
• Kenny Loggins wasn’t the first choice to sing the movie’s theme song.
• All of the actors that played pilots — except for Anthony Edwards — got sick doing their flying scenes. “Goose” was the only one not vomiting after his flying action.
• It was actually pitched as “Star Wars on Earth.” It is hard to see why, but that pitch seemed to have gotten the film done.
• The film brought in the money! The movie was the highest grossing film in 1986, bringing in $177 million. The second and third biggest films were Crocodile Dundee and Platoon.
• Cruise’s height was an issue. The lead actress, Kelly McGillis at 5’9″ was 3 inches taller than her male counterpart.

The fact that captured our editors’ attention was that others were in consideration for the role of Cruise’s Maverick. The Mirror noted “There were a lot of actors in the running for the Maverick role – Sean Penn, Matthew Modine, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Matthew Broderick, Michael J. Fox and Tom Hanks.”

We thought it would be interesting to look at this list and ask the question. Could that actor credibly played the role of Maverick? We grade them for you.

Sean Penn. Certainly a talented actor that had the intensity that Maverick was known for. However, he lacked the look and even by the mid-1980s he was seen as anti-patriotic. Patriotism was certainly a prerequisite for this role. We give him a B

Matthew Modine. Matthew may have had the look and had certainly done enough serious roles, but he lacked the intensity Maverick was famous for. When our editors asked, “could he really have done this role?” We doubted it.  We give him a B-

Patrick Swayze had it all. He was arguably at the height of his popularity, certainly among the most charismatic of the contenders, had enormous range (from humorous to intense), and had the look. We give him a solid A

Emilio Estevez was among the least credible of the alleged contenders for the lead. Wrong look. lacked consistent intensity, and often seemed bored, can you really imagine him as Maverick? We give him a C

Nicolas Cage possibly could have pulled this off. A very strong lead at the height of his popularity in 1986 and long before he destroyed his brand with going through bad roles like a toddler goes through diapers, he really had it all. We give him a solid A.

John Cusack was certainly one of the most talented actors in this group. However, I doubt one would argue that was the case in 1986. He turned 20 in 1986 and was a young one at that. He had not done anything remotely like Maverick at that point in his career and was known for his role as Farmer Ted’s sidekick in Sixteen Candles and as the lead in the hormone driven lead in One Crazy Summer. We give him a weak C and are grateful this never happened. 

Matthew Broderick was certainly well loved in respected by 1986. However, not for any roles like Maverick. In the same year that Top Gun came out, he played a rebellious teenager in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. That’s a stretch by any measure. Still, he was talented and likable, thus we give him a B

Michael J. Fox was a leading actor of his generation. In fact, he is arguably among the most elite actors of his generation. However, he was known almost exclusively as a comedic actor. Although not particularly handsome, he had charisma. He could have done it and it may have been his break out role as a dramatic actor. However, that didn’t come until 1989 for his role as Ericksson in Casualties of War.  We give him a respectful A-

Tom Hanks is the most interesting candidate to our editors. At this point in his career he had done virtually nothing but comedic roles. Some of those would be described as ridiculous (e.g., Bosom Buddies and Bachelor Party) I think the biggest drawback for Hanks was his age. By 1986 he would have been 36 and the old man in the film. Not what they were probably looking for. In spite of all the concerns, our editors feel confident he would have pulled it off somehow and we are giving him an A-

What about Tom Cruise himself? Our editors conclude that Tom Cruise was the alter ego of Maverick, or vice versa. Our assessment of all the other actors considered by the casting team for the movie were judged against Cruise. We give him a very solid A

The US release date for Top Gun: Maverick is June 26, 2020.