Kelly McGillis, 62, says she is 'too old and fat' for Top Gun sequel with Tom Cruise: 'I look age-appropriate for what my age is, and that is not what that whole scene is about'
- Kelly has not been asked to star with Cruise in 2020's Top Gun: Maverick
- In a candid interview, she said she was too 'old and fat' to be in the sequel
- But she says that she is fine with the way she looks and feels secure
- 'I'd much rather feel absolutely secure in my skin and who and what I am at my age as opposed to placing a value on all that other stuff,' she told ET
- She played the flight instructor Tom's Maverick falls for in the 1986 movie
- In the sequel, Cruise's love interest will be played by Jennifer Connelly
Kelly McGillis has been very upfront about why Hollywood is no longer courting her.
In an interview with ET the 62-year-old actress - who diagnosed with alpha one antitrypsin disorder about five years ago - was unusually candid about why she was not asked to co-star with Tom Cruise in the Top Gun sequel titled Maverick.
'I'm old and I'm fat and I look age-appropriate for what my age is, and that is not what that whole scene is about,' said the star who played Charlie Blackwood, Maverick's instructor, in the 1986 hit film. 'But ... I'd much rather feel absolutely secure in my skin and who and what I am at my age as opposed to placing a value on all that other stuff.'
Honest approach: Kelly McGillis was unusually candid about why she was not asked to co-star with Tom Cruise in the Top Gun sequel. Seen last week
Kelly looked her very best in the first film with her blonde curls, tiny waistline and killer legs.
And her chemistry with Cruise, who was in his 20s at the time, is legendary with a sensual love scene set to the music Take My Breath Away by Berlin.
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McGillis is five years older than Cruise, whose career momentum has kept going thanks mostly to the Mission: Impossible franchise.
But fame is behind Kelly, who moved to Pennsylvania in 2002.
And she told the site she is happy to see another actress take over. Cruise's love interest in the 2020 film is played by Hollywood vet Jennifer Connelly, best known for her Oscar-winning movie A Beautiful Mind.
Hot stuff in the 80s: Kelly looked her very best in the first film with her blonde curls, tiny waistline and killer legs
They sizzled: And her chemistry with Cruise, who was in his 20s at the time, is legendary with a sensual love scene set to the music Take My Breath away
Though she had an enviable career that included films such as Witness with Harrison Ford and The Accused with Jodie Foster, she walked away to raise a family.
And McGillis said she is happy where she is at these days.
'It didn't become a priority,' she said of her film career.
'It wasn't like a major decision that I made to leave, it was just that other things became more important,' she added later. '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.'
She has other ideas: 'It wasn't like a major decision that I made to leave, it was just that other things became more important,' she added later. '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'
He was into her: In this bar scene Cruise's Maverick won't take no for an answer
And Kelly also wanted to get sober and focus on her health.
And that was a smart move as several years ago she was diagnosed with the alpha one antitrypsin disorder.
Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (Alpha-1) is a genetic (inherited) condition – it is passed from parents to their children through their genes. Alpha-1 may result in serious lung disease in adults and/or liver disease at any age, according to webmd.
Her love life also became fodder for tabloids.
In 2002 Kelly divorced her second husband, Fred Tillman, and in 2009, she publicly came out as a lesbian. In 2010 she went public with partner Melanie Leis in 2010, whom she is now split from.
The new guard: Jennifer Connelly is now Maverick's love interest
She has two daughters, Sonora and Kelsey Tillman.
Fame hit for Kelly in her late 20s.
In 1983, McGillis made her movie debut in the comedy-drama Reuben, Reuben after graduating from the famed Juilliard School.
Two years later, she got her big break in Peter Weir's dramatic thriller Witness where she played an Amish widow opposite Harrison Ford.
The following year, Top Gun made her a household name with Top Gun.
The movie grossed $356 million against a production budget of only $15 million.
McGillis then won critical acclaim as a lawyer defending a rape victim played by Jodie Foster, who took home a Best Actress Oscar, in 1988's The Accused.
Having survived a similar experience to Foster's character, McGillis felt compelled to share her story of being raped by two strangers when the movie was released.
'The first few weeks after the incident I couldn't eat or sleep. I twitched incessantly,' McGillis told People in 1988. 'I would gasp suddenly without being able to control it.'
Big break: Two years later, she got her big break in Peter Weir's dramatic thriller Witness where she played an Amish widow opposite Harrison Ford
'When the project was finished, it was like a demon had been put to rest, but still I was struggling with publicly telling my story because I was afraid.'
After The Accused, McGillis floundered between critically panned movies like North and smaller roles in television movies.
Her personal life was taking a toll as well as she eventually had to deal with her closeted homosexuality and drug addiction.
Acting chops: McGillis then won critical acclaim as a lawyer defending a rape victim played by Jodie Foster, who took home a Best Actress Oscar, in 1988's The Accused
Now McGillis dips her toes in acting roles intermittently with parts in the Showtime drama The L-Word and the vampire flick Stake Land.
Meanwhile, fans of the original Top Gun are looking forward to the sequel Top Gun: Maverick, which will open in 2020.
Cruise returns as the hot shot pilot while he is joined by Connelly, Val Kilmer, Jon Hamm, and Miles Teller.
Need for speed: Meanwhile, fans of the original Top Gun are looking forward to the sequel Top Gun: Maverick, which will open in 2020
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