The reason why Matthew Modine turned down the ‘Top Gun’ role
A thrilling, flag-waving, homoerotic masterpiece from Tony Scott, Top Gun is recognised as one of the most defining moves of the 1980s, taking director Tony Scott and lead star Tom Cruise to new heights of success. Telling the story of a student at the United States Navy’s elite fighter weapons school competing for a spot in the squad with a bunch of equally competitive young rivals, the film is a strange mix of fighter jet spectacle and shirtless beach volleyball.
Love or hate the movie, no one can deny that it’s the spunk of Cruise that makes the movie as thrilling as it is, with the actor perfectly embodying a young man with quick wit, a brash conscience and plucky enthusiasm. Though his iconic performance in the role was almost never brought to life, with fellow Hollywood star Matthew Modine initially considered for the role of Maverick.
Whilst it’s hard even to imagine anyone other than Cruise in the lead role, Modine was initially favoured over the eventual star, even though he had only starred in a handful of minor roles before the movie’s release in 1986.
The most significant of his movies was the 1984 film Birdy, directed by Alan Parker, where Modine starred alongside Nicolas Cage and John Harkins. Based on the novel of the same name by William Wharton, the film follows two friends who return home from the Vietnam War, only for one to become mentally unstable and obsessive about birds.
So, if Modine had only starred in this prior to the release of Top Gun, why didn’t he take the lead role in the Tony Scott movie? Well, Modine quite simply disagreed with the movie’s glorification of the military during the Cold War.
Asked by Salon whether he regretted turning down the chance to star in the iconic movie, Modine replied: “Not at all. Not for one second. Cruise said that he felt that Top Gun was a movie about individualism and personal strength. I just thought the movie was jingoistic”.
Further explaining his position regarding the politics of the movie, Modine recalled how he had recently travelled to East Berlin and learned about the atrocities of WWII. “I went on a tour of sorts, and then they took me to this monument,” the actor stated, adding: “It was for the millions of Russians who had died fighting in World War 2. In my schooling I was not taught about the Russians involvement in the war and stopping the Nazis”.
Meeting Russian soldiers there, Modine described how they had reminded him of his own brother who went to Vietnam. “We laughed and joked around. These soldiers were just like young people in America. The Russian people are not evil, horrible monsters. That left quite an impression on me,” Modine recalled, providing the basis for why he disagreed with the politics of Top Gun.
True to his word, Modine went on to star in the anti-war Stanley Kubrick classic Full Metal Jacket instead, appearing in the oscar-nominated 1987 movie alongside R. Lee Ermey and Vincent D’Onofrio.
