Jon Hamm had nothing but admiration for Tom Cruise, 57, as he stepped out on the red carpet at the annual Mercedes Benz Academy Awards viewing party in Beverly Hills, CA on Feb. 9. The 48-year-old A-lister is starring in the upcoming action drama, Top Gun: Maverick which serves as the sequel to the 1986 Top Gun classic. HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with the Mad Men star and asked if he felt any pressure living up to the original film.
“Oh God, no. No pressure. If there’s any pressure, it’s on Tom,” Jon said, referring to his co-star’s iconic role of Maverick in the film. “But he seems to handle that pretty well. It was a phenomenal experience working with Tom. Really, really enjoyed it. He’s such a great guy and he’s such a wonderful actor. And it has to be very strange to revisit a role after 30 years that kind of defined your career.” The two-time Golden Globe winner continued, “But I think the way Tom does it is, he finds it exciting, you know? And rejuvenating. I mean, he looks younger than I do in that movie, so that’s pretty cool!”
Tom will return to the iconic role of Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell and Jon plays a vice admiral in the film. The handsome hunks also star alongside Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly who will play Maverick’s love interest, Glen Powell as a pilot trainee, Ed Harris as Maverick’s supervisor, and Val Kilmer will also reprise his role as Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in the highly anticipated action film. The sequel is set in the present day, and Maverick is now a flight instructor. He’ll be mentoring a new generation of pilots, including Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), the son of Maverick’s late partner and best friend Nick “Goose” Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards). Top Gun: Maverick is set to hit theaters on June 26, 2020.
