Meeting your icons has to be daunting, especially if they are major movie stars. Do you quote your favorite lines from their movies? Do you ask them questions about your favorite scenes? And what if they want to ACT OUT one of your favorite scenes with them? This is what happened to Zac Efron -- himself a movie star -- when he shared a talk-show stage with Tom Cruise, and gushed about the A-list actor's impressive career. With Cruise preparing for Top Gun 2, he pulled Efron in for a signature hand slap. It went something like this:
Zac Efron and Tom Cruise were on the Graham Norton Show in the UK, promoting Baywatch and The Mummy, respectively, when Efron started to open up about Cruise's influence on the industry, in general. Efron was surprisingly sweet when he talked about Cruise's effort to create a full character arc in each of his movies, whether he's working in drama, action or comedy. Norton -- who is a spectacular host who often thinks on his feet -- asked Efron if he was somehow angling for a role in the upcoming Top Gun 2, a sequel that Cruise has said he'll start filming in 2018. Instead of getting a walk-on role, Efron got to reenact the infamous double-hand-slap that Cruise did with Anthony Edwards in Tony Scott's legendary fly-boy thriller.
I hope that Zac Efron has a rosier fate than the last person who hand-slapped Tom Cruise like that, because as you likely know, Goose (Anthony Edwards)... let's just say he won't be around for the sequel. This sequel, now that you mention it, is coming together after years of small, strategic moves. Tom Cruise has been working hard on different concepts for Top Gun 2, but plans basically stalled when original Top Gun director Tony Scott took his own life. It's uplifting that Cruise stuck with the flight plan and will finally get Top Gun 2 (which will actually be called Top Gun: Maverick) off the tarmac. We're hoping he actually brings Oblivion director Joe Kosinski along for the ride, as has been rumored.
If you feel the need... the need for SPEED... then use this GIF on social media at some point today.
Tom Cruise can next be see in Alex Kurtzman's The Mummy, where he'll be fighting an undead monster who is brought back to life. Baywatch star Zac Efron, meanwhile, has to fondle the genitalia of a dead guy as The Rock looks on, laughs, and records it for sharing on social media. I think Cruise wins the battle, wouldn't you say?
