Never Forget That ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Star Glen Powell Tweeted a Hilarious and Good-Natured Message When He Wasn’t Cast as Rooster
Top Gun: Maverick is one of those movies that can change an actor’s career. The movie earned positive reviews for its emotional story and action-packed flight scenes. So what if Glen Powell puked in his own face during the shoot? He got to be part of a certified blockbuster that gave star Tom Cruise one of his best opening weekends ever. It just wasn’t the part he auditioned for. Powell’s comical tweet after he lost out on the Maverick role he wanted showed he was good-natured about it.
Glen Powell lost out on being Rooster in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ but had a part written for him instead
Once director Joseph Kosinski convinced Cruise to be in the movie, he and the star needed to fill out the rest of the cast. One of the most coveted parts was that of Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, the son of Goose from the original film.
Powell, Miles Teller (who plays Rooster), and Nicholas Hoult met Cruise at his house to test chemistry. Powell didn’t get the role, but he impressed Cruise so much that the superstar had a part written for Powell.
Even though he ended up in the film, Powell first had to deal with the sting of rejection. The Austin, Texas, native handled himself pretty well in the immediate aftermath of the bad news. Powell’s tweet displayed humor and showed no ill-will toward Cruise.
Powell’s tweet showed his sense of humor right after he didn’t get the ‘Maverick’ part he wanted
Instead of having a casting director do the dirty work, Kosinski called Powell directly to break the news about not getting the part of Rooster, as Yahoo reported.
The patriotic Powell found out on July 3, 2018, and he managed to send out a funny tweet before the pain overcame him:
“I’m taking down all the Tom Cruise posters in my bedroom. Maybe, I’ll leave one. Two for symmetry. Okay, the posters are staying.”
Glen Powell tweet
It’s likely Powell’s chemistry with Cruise was the No. 1 reason he appeared in Top Gun: Maverick. Still, how he handled rejection couldn’t have hurt his chances to appear as the cocky Hangman in one of the biggest blockbusters of all time.
Flight training and beach football were two of the toughest parts of the ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ shoot
The hard work really started once Powell landed the part.
Since Cruise insisted on putting his co-stars in the cockpit of real fighter jets, the cast had to undergo intense flight training before the cameras rolled.
Then, during the shoot, the actors had to worry about a shirtless beach football scene that was sort of a callback to the beach volleyball scene in Top Gun. Powell revealed the male actors took that scene seriously. And one day of shooting wasn’t enough. When Cruise saw the first-take footage of the scene, he called all the actors back for reshoots.
If Powell’s tweet after initially being rejected for Top Gun: Maverick is any indication, he handled the beach football reshoot well.
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