It's been a long running joke for years that Tom Cruise looks incredibly good for his age. The actor is, unbelievably, 57-years-old, and never seems to look that way. However, somehow, Cruise appears to look even younger than usual in the trailers for Top Gun: Maverick, and his co-star Jon Hamm, is crediting the film itself for that fact. He says the movie is actually rejuvenating the actor.
Top Gun was a massive hit the 1980s and so there are a lot of people, very excited for the long awaited sequel. Hollywood Life recently asked Jon Hamm if he felt any pressure to live up to the first movie. Hamm says tht any pressure is all on Tom Cruise, but the actor also says the star is making it look easy, perhaps too easy...
If there’s any pressure, it’s on Tom [Cruise]. But he seems to handle that pretty well. It was a phenomenal experience working with Tom. Really, really enjoyed it. He’s such a great guy and he’s such a wonderful actor. And it has to be very strange to revisit a role after 30 years that kind of defined your career. But I think the way Tom does it is, he finds it exciting, you know? And rejuvenating. I mean, he looks younger than I do in that movie, so that’s pretty cool!
It's difficult to argue. Tom Cruise does look incredibly young in Top Gun: Maverick. Cruise is nearly a full decade older than Jon Hamm, but you'd never know that from watching the movie trailer. It may have been more than 30 years since we saw the first Top Gun, but you would never guess it by watching him.
It's somewhat fitting that Tom Cruise doesn't seem to age between Top Gun films, because the movie will see Cruise's character having attained the rank of Captain in the U.S. Navy, but it seems he stalled out after that. Considering how long Pete Mitchell has been in the Navy he really should have a much higher rank, but it would appear that he's not interested in any rank that would take him out of the seat of a jet.
No offense to Jon Hamm, who looks great himself, but if he ends up making another season of Mad Men in 20 years, he'll probably look like that much time has passed. Tom Cruise on the other hand, is about to make two more Mission: Impossible movies and we can all be sure he'll be doing all his own stunts and risking his life at 60, and probably not actually look that out of place doing it.
Top Gun: Maverick certainly still has some people feeling some pressure. There is a lot riding on the new movie, though from most corners it sounds like the movie is pulling out all the stops to try and impress the audience in the same way they were back in the 1980s.
