Top Gun Exposed: Onset Secrets They Didn’t Want Out

The Problems of Director Tony Scott

Tony Scott is the brother of the probably more well known to the general public Ridley Scott. Together, Ridley and Tony worked together as movie producers for decades, until Tony Scott killed himself in 2012 by jumping off of The Vincent Thomas Bridge in Los Angeles.

Top Gun was the biggest hit of Tony Scott’s career, and yet he was fired from the film three times during the making. It’s commonly written online that he was fired three times, but impossible to find out why. The only reason found was listed on the website Shortish as “making Kelly McGillis look beautiful in a way that the studio considered [expletive].”

The Love Scene

The love scene between Tom Cruise and actress Kelly McGillis’ characters was actually filmed after the filming for the movie had wrapped! The famous scene was filmed after initial test screenings when moviegoers complained that there was no love scene, and they needed more reason to buy the love between the two actors. The company obliged.

Kelly McGillis had already dyed her hair darker for her next film, noticeably so. This is why that scene is tinted blue. You can also see in the added-on scene that the timing is off if you take a close look at the longer length of Tom Cruise’s hair, especially noting how long it hangs in the front. Despite this, the love scene worked its magic on moviegoers.