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

An Officer and a… Gentlewoman?

Kelly McGillis’ character Charlie, was always written as Maverick (Tom Cruise) love interest in the movie Top Gun. However, originally she was supposed to be an officer. You can see why the scriptwriters would have liked this idea; there is inherently a lot of conflict in two officers falling in love in such a high stakes career environment.

But the Navy, which was highly involved in every step of the scriptwriting process, and which was assisting the movie makers in staying within the budget, wouldn’t approve a script involving two officers fraternizing. As the filmmakers needed the Navy’s involvement, they changed Charlie’s profession to that of a Navy consultant, one who assesses pilot performance.

The Top Gun Look

Top Gun had a very specific look and feel as a movie, which went a long way toward cementing the film’s role in cinema history. The look of the movie was apparently inspired by the photographer Bruce Weber’s work, especially his first book of photos which featured scantily clad (as well as nude) male models dressed in or put against a military themed backdrop.

The look of the actors in the pilot program was inspired by Bruce Weber photography, specifically, his first book featuring scantily clad (and some nude) male models in a military theme. Bruce Weber is famous for his photography featuring black and white graphic shots of the human body.