Zack Sharf Digital News Director Glen Powell told some of his best Tom Cruise stories as part of a cover story interview with GQ UK magazine.
The two actors became close friends during the production of “Top Gun: Maverick.” Powell originally auditioned for the role of Rooster, but he was beat out by Miles Teller.
Cruise liked Powell and offered him the role of Hangman, but Powell had some notes. “What we were talking about is, how can Hangman service the story and give the flavor of the original ‘Top Gun’ that you need?” Powell remembered saying to his A-list co-star. “I said my piece to Tom about what I do and what I do well, and he listened.
Tom’s a listener. He listens to the crew members, he listens to his collaborators, and he hears people.” One of Powell’s most cherished Tom Cruise memories is when Cruise personally flew him back to London via helicopter from Pinewood studios, where the duo were shooting reshoots for “Top Gun: Maverick.” Cruise was flying and pretended the helicopter was going down. “Tom goes ‘oh no, oh no,’ and he starts dropping the helicopter over London,” Powell said. “I was like, ‘Am I about to be the unnamed guy that dies with Tom in a smoking hole in the middle of London?’” Another memory is when Cruise sent Powell to a theater in Los Angeles to show him a “film school” video that Cruise had put together for his friends. “Powell expected to be among a crowd – but no, it was just him alone, in an empty theater.
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