“From Top Gun to Now: A Stunning Look at the Stars then and Now”
Astrophysicist and civilian Top Gun instructor Charlie Blackwood captivated Maverick and their love story became iconic, at least in the 1980s. Unfortunately, Kelly McGillis, who played Charlie, was not asked to be in the sequel. In fact, she almost turned down the original film.
In an interview with The Guardian in 2001, McGillis revealed, “I didn’t want to do it. But because I’d done Witness, I owed Paramount another film, and my agent said, ‘You have to do this.’ I took one look at it and said, ‘This is like a Western in the sky—I don’t wanna do this.’ It wasn’t about acting, it was about being a cartoon character. You know what I mean? I could have done it blindfolded. I was grateful for the fact that it gave me opportunities I wouldn’t otherwise have had. But I showed up for work, did my bit, hung out with a bunch of boys, played baseball, and went home. It was like being at camp. Why they hired me I’ll never know.”
After her role in The Accused opposite Jodie Foster, McGillis continued acting in various films and TV movies. However, in the 1990s, she shifted her focus and opened a restaurant in Florida with her second husband, Fred Tillman, a yacht mogul. McGillis and Tillman had two daughters before divorcing in 2002.
In 2009, McGillis came out as gay and in 2010 had a civil union ceremony with Melanie Leis, though they parted ways the following year. Reflecting on her career change, McGillis shared in a 2019 interview with Entertainment Tonight from her home in North Carolina, “It wasn’t like a major decision that I made to leave [acting], it was just that other things became more important. 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.”