Tom Cruise Faked a Helicopter Crash to Scare Glen Powell During Top Gun

During production on Top Gun: Maverick, Glen Powell and Tom Cruise quickly became close friends, and Powell has recently revealed some of his best memories from the shoot. Powell originally auditioned for the role of Rooster, but was beat out by Miles Teller. However, Cruise, who served as a producer on the movie, liked his audition so much, he brought him in to play Hangman — Maverick‘s equivalent of Iceman (played by Val Kilmer in the original Top Gun).

Glen Powell recently spoke to British GQ for their newest cover story, and divulged some of his best memories working on the movie, including the time Cruise pranked him and made him think he was going to die. Powell said the pair were flying over London during reshoots at Pinewood Studios, and Cruise thought it would be funny to toy with his co-star. Pranks are nothing new on film sets. When productions last for months, the cast and crew tend to find creative ways to stay entertained.

However, Cruise’s definition of a prank may have been a bit too much. “Tom goes ‘oh no, oh no,’ and he starts dropping the helicopter over London,” Powell said. Judging from what he said next, Powell had stoically accepted his fate, but was more concerned with what the headlines would read following the accident. Powell continued, joking:

“Am I about to be the unnamed guy that dies with Tom in a smoking hole in the middle of London?”

Glen Powell Watched a 6-Hour Film School Video Made By Tom Cruise

While Tom Cruise’s ‘prank’ may have gone too far, the actor definitely made it up to Powell after the incident. Cruise reportedly asked Powell to attend a mystery screening at a theater in Los Angeles. When Powell arrived, the theater was empty, and the actor was treated to a private screening of a six-hour-long ‘film school’ made by Cruise. The video contained everything from the basics of camera work to (in true Tom Cruise fashion), how to fly a plane. Powell said, “It was like he put together this entire flight school. So he would literally go, ‘Ok, this is what a plane is. Here’s how things fly. Here’s how air pressure works.'”

As well as practical filmmaking, and flying, advice, the video also contained an important piece of career advice. Cruise told Powell that the key to a blockbuster hit is a story that can “telegraph universal emotions” and “hit on anxieties that everyone can relate to.” Sadly, Cruise reportedly has no plans to release the video to the public.

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There seems to be no escaping Glen Powell on the big screen as the actor has found tremendous success in the years following Top Gun: Maverick. The actor helped revitalize the romantic comedy in 2023 with the box office hit Anyone But You (co-starring Sydney Sweeney). This year, Glen Powell is turning his attention back to the action genre. He currently stars in Richard Linklater’s romantic action comedy Hit Man, which is currently screening in select theaters before releasing on Netflix on June 7. Powell is quickly following that up with another leading role in the natural disaster film Twisters, alongside Normal People‘s Daisy Edgar-Jones.