Playing the opposing force against Tom Cruise is a massive undertaking, and Jon Hamm nailed it as Vice Admiral Cyclone, who had constant friction with Maverick. For Hamm, scoring the antagonistic role was the chance of a lifetime as a fan of the original film. After starring in the blockbuster sequel, the Top Gun: Maverick star recalled his reaction to being offered his part and almost fired his agents.
The Mad Men alum spilled to The Howard Stern Show about meeting Cruise before the working on the sequel that’s grossed over $1 billion worldwide. Before playing Cyclone, he had met Cruise years earlier at a football party held by Jimmy Kimmel. Hamm felt the rumors of Cruise’s attendance were bogus until the Top Gun star showed up with his mom. During the party, the Mission: Impossible star proclaimed his love for the AMC drama, praising the 51-year-old actor’s performance. Fast forward to a few years later, he recalled the moment when his agent called about playing opposite Cruise:
I’m driving down the road and my phone rings. It’s my agent, and he goes, ‘Hey, they’re coming at you for – they want you to do a part in the Top Gun sequel.’ And I was like, ‘Well, then the answer is yes.’ Are you crazy? Yes. ‘Well, we don’t know. The money, and this and that.’ And I was like, ‘No, no, no, no, no. The answer is yes. You work out the details, but the answer is yes. If this goes away, you’re all fired.’ There’s no version of… if they’ve asked me to be in this, which by the way was still kind of a new thing for me, of being asked to be part of something, not only that is so front and center in the cultural everything, but to me was one of my favorite movies of all time. So to get to actually flash back to being, at that point, 13 or 14 years old (in) 1985, and to be asked to be part of the next chapter of this? And then to basically have all of my scenes be with Tom Cruise?! This is a no-brainer. The answer is yes. I’m sure it will be a big hit. And it was.
Like millions of young boys, Jon Hamm wanted to live out his fantasy of acting alongside Maverick while flying fighter jets. It didn’t matter how much he got paid if he and Cruise were in the same movie, he saw this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If your agents were close to losing such an opportunity, you might threaten them with walking papers, too. Luckily, he was right to fight for the role as the much-delayed sequel became 2022’s highest-grossing film.
Hamm proved he was the opposite of Cyclone, as co-star Glen Powell revealed the actor offered the young guns his time while on the Maverick set. He also proved that by giving up a huge chunk of his salary for Confess, Fletch. Despite being a good teammate, He was left out of the infamous shirtless football game, for which he was grateful. Still, Hamm had some great scenes in the sequel despite not showing off his body.
You can currently see Jon Hamm in Confess, Fletch in theaters and on VOD. Top Gun: Maverick is currently back in cinemas, so you can see Cyclone and Maverick butt heads again. After you watch both films, look over our 2022 movie schedule to find more upcoming movies to watch.