Tom Cruise Gave His Top Gun 2 Co-Star A Meaningful Lesson For Future Roles

Top Gun: Maverick

actor Jack Schumacher reveals his biggest takeaway from working with Tom Cruise on the hit action sequel. Directed by Joseph Kosinski and serving as a follow-up to Tony Scott’s Top Gun (1986), the 2022 film sees Cruise back as hotshot pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, this time to train a new batch of recruits for a dangerous mission over enemy territory. The Top Gun: Maverick cast features an array of newcomers to the franchise, including Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Monica Barbaro, and Lewis Pullman. Schumacher appears the film as pilot Lt. Neil “Omaha” Vikander.

In a recent interview with ScreenRant‘s Grant Hermanns to promote the release of his new Netflix series, Ransom Canyon, Schumacher speaks about his time filming Top Gun: Maverick, revealing that Cruise taught him some important lessons. The Omaha actor recalls, in particular, just what a positive example Cruise set every day while on set, with the star’s enthusiasm and professionalism positively affecting and encouraging everyone else who was present. Check out Schumacher’s comment below:

I could talk about Top Gun for an hour, the amount of lessons and things I learned from the people on that cast. It is an insane cast, but watching Tom, the professionalism that he shows up with on set. You hear that, and of course, that seems obvious where you’re like, “Show up and be ready and do your best work.” I think he does that, but in an elevated way, where he shows up and his enthusiasm and his passion is infectious.

Especially on a set, if you have the lead of a show, or if you have a director who’s just down and angry and yelling at people, there’s a trickle-down effect. It’s toxic to a set, and that can really make for a terrible day. Everyone’s stressed out. But what Tom would do is he would roll up, he would get out, and he’s like, “We’re making a movie!” You could see this dude is more stoked than anyone, and that gets everyone else pumped up.

And that’s especially important on days where things might not be going right, and there’s problems with cameras, there’s problems with this, there’s problems with that, the lighting is getting messed up, you’re running behind, there’s all these things. But to have a guy who’s the captain of the ship, who is maintaining his cool, knows everyone’s name, is clearly more excited to be there than anyone. That, I think, is one of the keys to that.

And then also, whether you’re playing a big part or a small part, wanting to be on the winning team. That’s something that I’d heard him say, where it’s like, “Yeah, it’s more important to be on a winning team than the star on a losing team.” So, all of those things I’ve tried to maintain to where when I show up on set, show up and be ready, and be excited, because then other people are excited to see you. Other people are excited to work with you, and just take the time to get to know people.

What This Means For Top Gun: Maverick

Cruise Was Crucial To Maverick’s Success

Though Kosinski was in the director’s chair, Cruise plays an active role on almost all of his movies these days as a producer. In addition to leading the cast on camera, he is also crucial behind-the-scenes. It was Cruise, after all, who spearheaded the movie’s emphasis on practical action and the use of real fighter jets, and the actor has been open about being part of the reason why Maverick took so long to come to fruition – the camera technology needed to film real actors in real fighter jets just didn’t exist twenty years ago.

Cruise is also why Maverick‘s release in theaters was delayed several times from its initial 2019 date. These delays were partly due to reshoots to improve the action sequences and then, later, to wait out the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure an uninterrupted theatrical window.

Cruise’s hard work and dedication paid off. Not only were Top Gun: Maverick reviews glowing from critics, but the film was a massive hit with audiences. At the box office, the sequel grossed $1.495 billion worldwide, a stunning feat, especially given the lasting effects of COVID on theaters at the time. The film’s success has led to development on Top Gun 3, with Cruise, Teller, and Powell all expected to return. There’s been no word yet, however, regarding Schumacher’s return as Omaha.

Our Take On Schumacher’s Tom Cruise Praise

Nobody Is Making Movies Like Cruise

Tom Cruise's Maverick in the cockpit in Top Gun Maverick

Schumacher’s positive experience with Cruise doesn’t seem to be unique to him. Many actors who work with Cruise, including Hayley Atwell with the Mission: Impossible franchise, for example, have generally nothing but positive things to say about their experiences. Cruise may demand a lot of the people he works with, but he leads by example, and his enthusiasm for making movies and entertaining audiences seemingly has no bounds.

Tom Cruise as Vincent Lauria holding a pool stick in The Color of Money, laughing with Ray Bans on as Joel in Risky Business and as Lt. Daniel Kaffee looking surprised in A Few Good Men

10 Best Tom Cruise Movies, Ranked

With a career spanning more than 40 years, Tom Cruise is one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. From comedies to action movies, the actor has done it all.

Cruise’s attitude towards movies is undoubtedly part of why he’s making movies that nobody else in Hollywood is really making. His stunts in the Mission: Impossible movies continue to push boundaries when other productions rely more on CGI. It remains unclear whether Schumacher will reunite with Cruise on a sequel to Top Gun: Maverick, but it certainly seems like Schumacher would jump at the chance.