Glen Powell opens up about the pressure of making Top Gun: Maverick: ‘When you have that amount of expectations, there’re a lot of ways to miss and fail’

Making a fresh film is easier than working on a sequel to an already successful film that has sort of attained cult status over the years. Such pressure was felt by everyone associated with Top Gun: Maverick, which comes almost 36 years after the release of its predecessor in 1986.

After facing several setbacks due to the coronavirus pandemic, the high-profile sequel entered theatres on May 27 and opened to great critical and commercial success, raking in over $1.4 billion worldwide.

Apart from Tom Cruise, Top Gun: Maverick also starred several new cast members, including Glen Powell, Miles Teller, Lewis Pullman, Monica Barbaro, Jay Ellis, and Danny Ramirez

Talking to a publication, Powell says he is very grateful to be a part of Top Gun: Maverick. “The dream of this business is to occupy the costumes of your heroes, and to occupy a flight suit with Tom Cruise is as cool as it gets. I am still pinching myself,” he says

The actor goes on to add that Cruise was an endless source of wisdom and advice for everyone on set and continues to be a mentor even after filming is over. “You just never know if someone's going to continue being in your life after you wrap a movie, it's just sort of hit or miss," Powell says. "I've just been grateful [for] how Tom has been so involved in my career and how he checks in to make sure the changing of my life is going well and to see what I'm working on next and if I need any help with it. He's just such a special friend. I'm just so grateful that he's as cool, if not cooler than you would hope he'd be."

"On this movie, I really got to learn from the greats, he adds.

Talking about the monumental expectations while working on a film like Top Gun: Maverick, Powell says, "When you have a movie the size of Top Gun, there's a lot of expectations on how you play a certain character. You don't want to be a derivative. You don't want to be stuck in the '80s. You're trying to figure out a way to update things. When you have that amount of expectations, there are a lot of ways to miss. There are a lot of ways to fail.”

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