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Kelly McGillis on not appearing in 'Top Gun' sequel: 'I'm old and I'm fat'

McGillis played Tom Cruise's love interest in the 1986 original, and she's offering one theory on why she didn't get a call from "Top Gun: Maverick" filmmakers.
/ Source: TODAY

"Top Gun: Maverick" may feel the need for speed, but it didn't feel a need to tap Kelly McGillis to co-star.

And the 62-year-old actress has a hunch about that.

TOP GUN, Kelly McGillis, Tom Cruise, 1986, (c) Paramount/courtesy Everett Collection
Kelly McGillis and Tom Cruise in 1986's "Top Gun."Everett Collection

The sequel to the 1986 action classic "Top Gun," which featured McGillis as astrophysicist and civilian Top Gun instructor Charlie Blackwood, is due out in 2020, and fans are looking forward to cruising the skies again.

But while star Tom Cruise will return as flyboy Maverick, Entertainment Tonight reveals that McGillis said she wasn't invited to come back.

"Oh, my God, no," she said when asked if filmmakers had reached out to her about reviving her role. "They did not and nor do I think they would ever. I mean, 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."

And frankly, that's just fine by McGillis, because while Hollywood remains eternally obsessed with youth — or at least the appearance of it — she doesn't share that obsession.

"To me, 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."

"We Are What We Are" Portraits - 2013 Sundance Film Festival
Kelly McGillis at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.Larry Busacca / Getty Images

She's also not sure if she would attend any promotional events about the film. "I don't know how to answer that because one, it hasn't happened," she said. "Two, if and when it did happen, I would have to assess where I am, what I'm doing, what's going on ... I can't project what I would or wouldn't do in the future. I have no idea because I don't know where I'll be."

McGillis said she hasn't watched the new film's trailer. In the original film, she played Maverick's love interest.

"Movies are odd things. I don't really keep in touch with anybody," she added. "I think I've spoken to a couple of people occasionally, but the truth is, movies are very odd work situations because you have a lot of people who come together from all different parts of the world."

Jennifer Connelly is one of the new cast members in "Maverick," and there's a decent chance that she'll end up in a romantic plot with Cruise this go-around. "I'm glad for her," said McGillis.

The thing is, McGillis hasn't really been in the Hollywood milieu for many years. She said she "got sober" when she left Hollywood and was "on a journey to figure out who the hell" she was.

"I think just my priorities in life changed," she said. "It wasn't like a major decision that I made to leave, 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."