Tom Cruise Had to 'Barf on Himself' in Order to Land Lead Role in 'Top Gun': 'From That Moment, He Was In'

Like all the most famous movie roles, it's hard to imagine anyone else but Tom Cruise playing the daredevil pilot Maverick in Top Gun.

Perfectly matching Cruise's devil-may-care attitude and energetic personality, Cruise managed to hand in the performance a lifetime with his starring role in 1986's Top Gun and its belated sequel Top Gun: Maverick.

In its earliest production phase, however, screenwriter Jack Epps Jr. revealed that he had some degree of trouble convincing Cruise to sign on for the film.

According to a recent interview with The Guardian, the 76-year-old Epps and producer Jerry Bruckheimer recalled some initial difficulty getting Cruise attached to the hit action blockbuster.

As per Epps, the main way they managed to convince the young actor to agree to participate in the film was by having Cruise fly with the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels, a flight demo squad that agreed to take the Outsiders star on a high-speed flight.

"We couldn't quite get him to commit so I arranged for him to fly with the Blue Angels in El Centro, California," Bruckheimer said. "He had long hair and a ponytail and they saw this guy walk up and they said, ‘We'll get this hippy a real ride.' "

"They look at him and they don't know who Tom Cruise is," Epps told The Guardian. "They do what they like to do: they took him up, they shook him around, he barfed on himself, and he came out and said, ‘I love this.' From that moment, he was on."

The flight ended up proving a turning point in Cruise's personal and professional life, convincing him not only to portray the role of Maverick in Top Gun, but also inspiring him to acquire his own pilot's license.

From its earliest inception, Epps said he always hoped to land Cruise for the lead role in the film. "I was a Tom Cruise fan at that time - still am - so we wrote this with Tom Cruise in mind as Maverick," Epps revealed. "I loved his movies: he's such an energetic actor, he connects with the audience."

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This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 12:42 PM.