Director Surprised by What the Hangman Actor “Secretly Did” in “Top Gun Maverick” Play

Last Updated on 01/15/2023 by てんしょく飯

Glen Powell, who plays the role of Hangman in the movie “Top Gun Maverick,” has been revealed to have made an homage to the previous movie without consulting the director in advance.

Glen Powell secretly planted a homage to the previous film.

Glen Powell, the actor who played the arrogant but lovable hangman in the worldwide record-breaking movie “Top Gun Maverick” starring Tom Cruise, revealed in an interview with ET that he secretly planted an homage to the previous movie “Top Gun” in a certain scene without telling the director.

As many of you know, there are several scenes in “Top Gun Maverick” that pay homage to the original. One of the most famous is the “beach scene” where the pilots play American football (volleyball in the previous film) with no clothes on, and recently fans discovered that there is “another secret” hidden in this scene.

In the beginning of the movie, the Hangman plays “Slow Ride” by Foghat on the jukebox at the bar owned by Penny, played by Jennifer Connelly. At that time, Hangman entered the number “86” on the jukebox, meaning 1986, the year the previous film was released. As a matter of fact, this was not directed by Joseph Kosinski, but by Glen on his own initiative.

The director was not aware of this until post-production, which is the process of finishing the film, and he was quite surprised.

I don’t think anyone noticed what I did until post-production. Joe (Joseph Kosinski) asked me, ‘Did you push 86? I said, ‘Oh, yes. I said, ‘Yes, I did. （I did it (on my own).

Incidentally, Glenn, who initially auditioned for the role of Rooster, played by Miles Teller, was not too keen on appearing in “Top Gun Maverick” in a different role, and revealed that he decided to do it thanks to Tom’s persuasion.