People.com Entertainment Movies See the Cast of the Original 'Top Gun' — Then and Now With Top Gun: Maverick opening May 24, look back at the cast of the iconic 1986 original, and see what they're up to today By Georgia Slater Georgia Slater Twitter Georgia Slater is a writer/reporter on the Parents team at PEOPLE. She began at the brand in 2018 as an editorial intern and later returned as an intern on the Food team. Upon graduating from the University of Maryland in 2019, Georgia worked as an entertainment intern at USA Today before coming back to PEOPLE as a digital news writer. In April 2021, she began her role as a Parents writer/reporter. People Editorial Guidelines Updated on May 16, 2022 02:34 PM Share Tweet Pin Email 01 of 07 PARAMOUNT Did Top Gun fans "feel the need" for a sequel? Definitely. The highly anticipated sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, will hit theaters on May 24, with original stars Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer back in the mix. New faces suiting up for a wild flight include Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Jon Hamm and Jennifer Connelly. While it remains to be seen whether the new film will "Take My Breath Away" or send you on a "Highway to the Danger Zone" (and whether you'll need someone to "Hold My Hand" through it), you can get ready for the high-octane sequel by looking back at the iconic 1986 film's cast then and now. 02 of 07 Tom Cruise: Maverick Photo by Snap/Shutterstock; Scott Garfield/Paramount pictures Tom Cruise, 56, has been a Hollywood high-flyer since his film debut in Endless Love (1981). Just a few years later, Cruise went on to star in some of the biggest films of the '80s: Top Gun (1986), The Color of Money (1986), Rain Man (1988) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989). The actor continued his extremely successful career with Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994), Mission: Impossible (1996) and Jerry Maguire (1996). Over his long career in Hollywood, Cruise has had three Oscar and seven Golden Globe nominations (with three Globes to his name). Recently, Cruise has been seen in the Mission: Impossible series (he's currently filming another entry in the series), as well as in The Mummy (2017) and American Made (2017). 03 of 07 Val Kilmer: Iceman Everett; Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic Before "Iceman" (Kilmer) competed against "Maverick" (Cruise) in Top Gun in 1986, the actor first got his start in the 1984 spoof Top Secret! His breakthrough performance was his role as Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's The Doors (1991). Since then, he has gone on to portray other stars like Elvis Presley in True Romance (1993) and Doc Holliday in Tombstone (1993). He also took on the role of Batman in Batman Forever (2005) and starred in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005). Recently the 58-year-old actor was on the TV series The Spoils of Babylon (2014), and was in The Snowman (2017) and The Super (2017). The Top Gun sequel will be Kilmer's first major role since his recovery from throat cancer. 04 of 07 Kelly McGillis: Charlie Everett; Jeff Vespa/WireImage Kelly McGillis, 60, first appeared onscreen with a supporting role in the Oscar-nominated Reuben (1983). After picking up numerous TV roles, the actress then starred alongside Harrison Ford in Witness (1985), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe. The actress then went on to appear in The Accused (1988) and was cast in several TV movies such as Bonds of Love (1993) and In the Best of Families: Marriage, Pride & Madness (1994). During the mid to late 1980s, McGillis pursued roles on stage, playing various roles in William Shakespeare plays including The Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night. This eventually led to her star role in the Broadway production of Hedda Gabler in 1994. Following the birth of her children, McGillis took a step back from Hollywood for about a decade, eventually opening up about living with sexual assault and addiction as well as coming out as a lesbian in 2009. Recently she has been seen on TV in Dirty John (2020) and Maternal Secrets (2017), but will not be returning for Top Gun sequel. 05 of 07 Anthony Edwards: Goose Paramount/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock; Robin Marchant/Getty Before his role as "Goose" in Top Gun, Anthony Edwards, 55, first appeared in a small role in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) after dropping out of college to pursue an acting career. His first starring role was in Revenge of the Nerds (1984); he then went on to star in The Sure Thing (1985) and Gotcha! (1985) before landing Top Gun the next year. The actor continued to work on-screen such as in the film How I Got Into College (1989) and in the TV series Northern Exposure (1990). Years later, Edwards landed his most widely-known recurring role as Dr. Mark Greene in the TV series ER (1994-2008). The actor was nominated four times for a Golden Globe for the show, one of which he won in 1998. More recently, the actor appeared in WeCrashed (2022) and Inventing Anna (2022). 06 of 07 Tom Skerritt: Viper Everett; Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Tom Skerritt got his start in 1962 in the movie War Hunt. Before Top Gun, he spent most of his years staring on TV, becoming a recurring character on shows such as Gunsmoke (1955) and 12 O'Clock High (1964). The actor, now 88, was seen in the '80s on Cheers (1987-1988) for a six-episode-run and in Steel Magnolias (1989), and has continued to act on shows including The Grid (2004), Brothers & Sisters (2006-2009) and The Good Wife (2014). Recently the actor came back to the big screen and was seen in films Lucky (2017) and Day of Days (2017). 07 of 07 Meg Ryan: Carole Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Before the 56-year-old actress took the rom-com world by storm, she started with a minor role as Candice Bergen's daughter in Rich and Famous (1981). She then landed the the small part in Top Gun which led her to more major appearances. In 1987, Ryan was cast alongside Dennis Quaid in Innerspace, and again with Quaid in the remake of D.O.A. (1988). The two stars were married from 1991 to 2001. The actress then starred in When Harry Met Sally (1989), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe. Ryan was nominated another two times for her roles in Sleepless in Seattle (1933) and You've Got Mail (1998). In 1994, PEOPLE named Ryan as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. In recent years, Ryan got engaged to (then split from) musician John Mellencamp, and has been seen on TV in Web Therapy (2013) and the TV movie Fan Girl (2014), but will be making her return to rom-coms soon!