Why Didn't Kelly McGillis Return For The Top Gun Sequel? Here's What She Said

Kelly McGillis was one of the main attractions of the iconic 1986 action-adventure movie "Top Gun." The actor, who starred in the film as Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood, was featured on most, if not all, of the promotional material, and was billed second, behind only lead actor Tom Cruise. However, while Cruise returned for the hit 2022 sequel, "Top Gun: Maverick," as did third-billed actor Val Kilmer, McGillis was conspicuously absent from the long-awaited follow-up. Not only that, but "Maverick" offers absolutely no information regarding Charlie's whereabouts or fate. So, what gives?

In July 2019, which is when "Top Gun: Maverick" was originally supposed to be released in theaters before being delayed multiple times and ultimately landing in 2022, McGillis confirmed in an interview with Entertainment Tonight that she would not be appearing in the sequel, nor had she even been asked to return. However, the actor didn't sound particularly offended. "Movies are odd things. I don't really keep in touch with anybody," McGillis, who has notably ditched Hollywood, reasoned. "I think I've spoken to a couple of people occasionally, but the truth is, movies are very odd work situations because you have a lot of people who come together from all different parts of the world." 

McGillis was also noncommittal when asked whether she'd be open to taking part in promotional events for "Maverick," should the studio ask her. "I would have to assess where I am, what I'm doing, what's going on," the '80s icon replied. "I can't project what I would or wouldn't do in the future. I have no idea because I don't know where I'll be."

While it's true that Kelly McGillis has faced more than her fair share of tragedy in her life, the actor clarified that her semi-retirement from Hollywood was a simple matter of her priorities shifting with age, rather than the result of any one dramatic event. "I love acting, I love what I do, I love doing theater, but I don't know. To me, my relationships to other people became far more important than my relationship to fame," McGillis explained to Entertainment Tonight in 2019. "I am a home person. I'm really rooted in my home life," she continued. "I can't remember the last time I worked." Once again, though, McGillis was hardly complaining, considering she had been diagnosed with alpha one antitrypsin disorder sometime around 2014. 

"I feel really blessed that I don't have to work, you know? But I get the option to work, so I'm really blessed in that way," she acknowledged. Indeed, at the time of writing, McGillis' most recent acting job was an uncredited appearance in an episode of the TV series "Dirty John" in 2020. And while she is something of a staple of the made-for-TV movie scene, her latest big-screen appearance was in the independent film "Blue," which premiered at the Orlando Film Festival back in 2015. But while the '80s action star appears to have all but left massive blockbusters behind, she fondly reminisced about the original "Top Gun" during a 2021 interview with David Weiner. However, McGillis confessed that she never expected to land that sort of job in the first place, given that theater was always more her speed, "And famousness wasn't what I aspired to have in my life."