Top Gun 30th anniversary: Tom Cruise reflects on landing his role as Maverick

It’s been 30 years since Tony Scott’s aerial action drama first flew into theaters, and to celebrate Top Gun’s big anniversary, Tom Cruise and producer Jerry Bruckheimer sat down to reminisce about their time on the iconic film.

In this exclusive clip from the 30th anniversary digital HD rerelease, Cruise recalls how he was first offered the role of Maverick in 1983, but at that point, he was busy working on another film by a Scott brother: Ridley Scott’s Legend. It wasn’t until Ridley Scott introduced him to his brother Tony that Cruise realized Top Gun seemed to be a movie tailor-made for his interests.

“It was aligned with the things that I love: movies and aviation,” he says.

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In addition to including exclusive interviews with Cruise and Bruckheimer, the 30th anniversary rerelease also promises details about the possibility of Top Gun 2. No official details have been announced, but the on-again, off-again project has been rumored to be in the works for years. Last summer, producer David Ellison said The Jungle Book writer Justin Marks was working on a screenplay, and in January, Bruckheimer tweeted a photo with Cruise, adding that the pair got together to “discuss a little Top Gun 2.”

The 30th anniversary digital HD release of Top Gun is out now.