Anthony Edwards took part in 1986’s Top Gun as a key character in the life of Tom Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell: Nick “Goose” Bradshaw, Pete’s RIO and best friend. Unfortunately, Goose met a tragic end in Top Gun, but his spirit is most certainly felt during the events of Top Gun: Maverick through both Cruise’s character and his son, Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, played by Miles Teller. As far as real life goes, Edwards has shared both his opinion on Maverick and what he told Cruise about one of the more recent 2022 movie releases.
Although Anthony Edwards didn’t attend the world premiere of Top Gun: Maverick, he informed ET that Tom arranged to screen it for his co-star in person, and Edwards brought his son Bailey with him to see the movie. So what did Edwards think about Maverick? He summarized his thoughts thusly:
People had a certain feeling in the original one and that one [Top Gun: Maverick] does exactly what it felt like seeing it the first time, only more so. As I said to Tom, ‘mission accomplished.’ They did it. They really did though. It’s a lot of work that went into that. It had the feel, it had the tone, it had what people wanted.
The actor (whose other notable credits include Zodiac, ER, Designated Survivor and WeCrashed) said that because of Goose’s importance to Top Gun: Maverick’s story, it’s “fun” for him to be part of what’s currently the biggest movie in the world without having to show up for a single day of work. More importantly, we can firmly count Edwards among Maverick’s many fans, and he made sure Tom Cruise knew it. He’s in good company, as Maverick boasts an outstanding 97% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 99% Audience Score. CinemaBlend’s own Eric Eisenberg gave the movie 4 out of 5 stars in his review.
While Top Gun: Maverick being showered with praise is nice to see, especially for people with ties to this property like Anthony Edwards, this movie has shined even more at the box office. As of this writing, the sequel has collected over $612 million worldwide, making it the fourth highest-grossing movie of the year so far. Maverick has also hit milestones like overtaking Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End as the highest-opening Memorial Day weekend and becoming Tom Cruise’s highest-grossing movie domestically, and it’s only been two weeks since the sequel opened wide. There are plenty of other blockbusters still set to come out in the latter half of the year, but Maverick has already cemented itself as one of 2022’s biggest cinematic successes.
Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more news about Top Gun: Maverick’s theatrical run, and Paramount+ subscribers can look forward to the movie becoming available on the platform sometime later this year. As for Anthony Edwards, he’s been cast as Dr. Everett in the anthology series Tales of the Walking Dead.