In next year’s Top Gun: Maverick, Miles Teller plays Bradley Bradshaw, the son of Anthony Edwards’ “Goose” from the 1986 film. The character is expected to be the new protégé of Tom Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, and as such he’ll have a lot to learn if the student is to become the master. Behind the scenes, Miles Teller too is learning from an action movie master in the form of Tom Cruise, and that is no easy thing.
On the long-awaited sequel, Miles Teller is struggling to keep up with the renowned pace and stunts of Tom Cruise. He admitted as much, saying:
I’m certainly trying, but it is difficult. just the volume of it. I’m sure a lot of people can do it for a couple days or a week, but can you do it month after month after month? There’s been nothing on this film that didn’t take a lot of training to accomplish.
Much like achieving success at the Naval Fighter Weapons School, filming Top Gun: Maverick is proving to be quite the challenge for Miles Teller. The actor freely admits how difficult it is, and a big part of that has to do with keeping pace with Tom Cruise. The famous action star is known for his tireless work ethic and his never-ending supply of energy, and despite being 24 years Tom Cruise’s junior, Miles Teller is still struggling to keep up.
Filming any movie involves long hours and lots of hard work, but on Top Gun: Maverick, there’s even more to it. As Miles Teller explains to The Wrap, it is the sheer volume of the work involved in the film, which included a great deal of training for the actors, that makes it so daunting and in turn makes Tom Cruise’s stamina throughout filming so impressive.
Miles Teller is no stranger to action movies, having starred in Fantastic Four, the Divergent series and Only the Brave, but it sounds like Top Gun: Maverick upped the difficulty to another level. The way Miles Teller describes it, this kind of filming and training would be more manageable if it only amounted to a few days or weeks, but months at a time is another story.
It’s a marathon not a sprint, but Tom Cruise is setting a breakneck pace that everyone else has to keep up with.
This is what we would expect from Tom Cruise, who famously does his own stunts and gives his all to deliver the best possible movie for audiences. In Mission: Impossible - Fallout he flew a helicopter and broke his ankle, and, after a short recovery period, kept going. For Top Gun 2, Cruise will be doing some flying, albeit not in fighter jets, as well as motorcycle riding and who knows what else.
It sounds like filming Top Gun: Maverick and watching Tom Cruise work has been a great learning experience for Miles Teller and perhaps hearing about Tom Cruise’s stamina and all go work ethic will give Justin Bieber pause.
Top Gun: Maverick arrives in theaters on June 26, 2020. For movies arriving just a bit sooner, check out our 2019 Release Schedule.
