Formula 1 superstar Lewis Hamilton has piloted race cars to seven world championships, but had to decline the opportunity to jump in the cockpit of a fighter jet for a role in Top Gun: Maverick, he tells Vanity Fair in a new interview.
A fan of the original Top Gun, and a friend of Tom Cruise, Hamilton said, “When I heard the second one was coming out, I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I have to ask him’.” He told Cruise, “I don’t care what role it is.
I’ll even sweep something, be a cleaner in the back.” Evidently, Maverick himself agreed and Hamilton was to be one of the pilots.
But filming would have clashed with the climax of the F1 season, and being a “perfectionist” who wouldn’t have been able to split his time, Hamilton had to turn down the role.
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