“I’m old and fat:” Kelly McGillis opens about why she's not in the Top Gun sequel
The 62-year-old actress is best known for playing Charlie Blackwood – a beautiful astrophysicist and love interest to Tom Cruise – in the 1986 film Top Gun. However, Kelly McGilis has not been asked to come back to any role in the sequel set to release later this year.
The Golden Globe-winning actress wasn’t too surprised, however, and believes the reason is that she is “too old and fat”.
The Top Gun star told Entertainment Tonight: “I’m old and I’m fat and I look age appropriate for what my age is and that is not what that whole scene is about.
“To me, I’d much rather feel absolutely secure in my skin and who and what I am at my age as opposed to placing a value on all that other stuff.”
In the upcoming film, 57-year-old Tom Cruise will play the role of Pete “Maverick” Mitchell once again, with Jennifer Connelly, 48, starring as his love interest.
Since her time as an actress, McGillis said she left Hollywood after a while to “get sober” and to “figure out who the hell she was".
"It was very challenging for me to have any kind of sense of self or self-identity or real self-worth other than what I did for a living," she said.
"And it just – it didn't become a priority; what became the priority initially was raising my girls and being the best sober parent I could be."
These days, McGillis spends her time with her two daughters Sonora and Kelsey Tillman.
"I think just my priorities in life changed," she said. "It wasn't like a major decision that I made to leave, it was just that other things became more important.
“I love acting, I love what I do, I love doing theatre, but I don't know. To me, my relationships to other people became far more important than my relationship to fame."