MILES AHEAD

Top Gun: Maverick’s good-lookin’ Rooster, MILES TELLER, talks about working with Tom Cruise, braving the tough Navy training, that topless beach scene and playing the son of one of the franchise’s much-loved characters – in the highest-grossing, hyped up movie of 2022…

- MILES TELLER

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has praised your performance in this movie. Was there one particular moment that you clicked with your character, Rooster, in Top Gun: Maverick?

Maybe when they put a Hawaiian shirt on me? [Laughs] I don’t know… It was certainly helpful that my character, Bradley, when the first movie came out, he was just a little kid. And now, of course, you’re seeing him over 30 years later, so there were a lot of blanks to fill in. I felt like I had a lot of room for interpretation. Goose was and still is such a beloved character and I feel fortunate to carry on the Bradshaw name with our film.

You mention how beloved a character Goose was in the original. What was the pressure like for you, playing the son of someone so adored?

I was excited. I think the heightened expectations keep everyone honest and on the mark with their preparation and execution. We had so many integral pieces of the first film on our team. We had Jerry Bruckheimer, we had Tom Cruise, we had Val Kilmer and there were other people behind the scenes who had also worked on the first movie, which was really beneficial. You don’t feel like you have to do too much on your own when you have the team that we had. Stay within yourself and trust the team.

You’ve worked with director Joe Kosinski before. How did he pitch this movie to you?