Kurt Russell opened up about how he played a role in helping Tom Cruise on his flying journey.
The legendary actor who spent three decades as a pilot told Entertainment Weekly that he recognized Cruise’s passion for aviation after the release of the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun and personally helped him get airborne.
“I flew for 30 years. I’m not current anymore, but I flew a lot of different airplanes,” Russell explained.
“Matter of fact, I helped Tom after he did Top Gun. He and I got together. He wanted to go flying. We flew in my plane, and then I saw that he really wanted to learn to fly and did what I could to help him out in that regard.”
Cruise would go on to become a licensed pilot thanks in part to Russell’s guidance and director Sydney Pollack (who gifted him flying lessons after working together on The Firm in 1993).
Since then, Cruise has showcased his aeronautical skills in films like American Made and the 2022 sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
“He’s a good stick man,” Russell said of Cruise, praising his reprise of Maverick decades later. “I loved what they did with Top Gun. I just thought it was great.”
Cruise later shared his passion for aviation with his Top Gun: Maverick co-star Glen Powell.
In 2020, Powell revealed that Cruise not only covered the cost of his pilot’s license but also surprised him with an iPad preloaded with flight school coursework as a Christmas gift.
“After months of flying, studying, and testing… I’m the real deal,” Powell wrote at the time, thanking Cruise for being his “hype man every step of the way.”
