The audience coming out of “Top Gun: Maverick” this weekend wants to know one thing, do the actors really control these fighters? The short answer is yes.
Returning as Maverick, Tom Cruise is known for his own stunt work and wants his stars Miles Teller, Monica Barbaro and Glenn Powell to learn how to fly. That’s where the film’s air coordinator, Kevin LaRosa Jr., intervened.
LaRosa Jr. is working with Cruz to put together an intensive flight program that begins with the cast flying in a smaller plane. “We started with the Cessna 172 and went through the main flight. That allowed them to see what it was like to take off, land and know where to look and put their hands up, ”LaRosa. Junior explains. This launch aircraft also allowed the actors to feel what a small g-force feels like.
And just like in a real training program, once the actors were comfortable with it, they went to the next level and it was on the pilot, the Extra 300. “It was similar to what the general public will see at an air show where these planes make crazy maneuvers. It can pull up to eight g of force. It’s exciting, “said LaRosa Jr.
Again, the exercise will build their G-tolerance. “It’s almost like a muscle memory for me. If I don’t fly for a long time, I can get on and get sick. But if I fly every day and pull these G’s, it’s almost like a brain muscle and you’ll get used to it and you’ll get better. ” He added: “We built them to the point where they basically don’t get sick.”
The next was the L-39 Albatross. “This allowed them to test a training fighter. When they finished this, we had aviators. ” LaRosa Jr. adds that some cast members are working to obtain their full license. Glenn Powell, who plays Executioner, got his.
At the time the actors were cast in F / A-18, LaRosa Jr. said: “They were confident and feeling good. They were used to these G-forces, and then they could focus on working with Joseph and Tom to tell this amazing story. He continues: “They didn’t have to worry about being on this high-performance fighter jet flying through canyons.”
As a man who has dedicated his life as an air coordinator, flying and teaching, LaRosa Jr. praises the talent of the cast. Barbaro, he says, was the most impressive. “She absolutely killed him and did a good job of adapting to the physiological effects of everything.”
Monica Barbaro as Phoenix was among the cast who learned to fly real fighters. Scott Garfield
Equally impressive was Powell, who fell ill while filming F / A-18 scenes. LaRosa Jr. says: “He will go to take care of his business and then he will return to the game immediately. one of the most impressive things was watching some of the cast manage to handle this and recover on their own. “
The training program set the actors up so that when they were ready to fly and shoot, Cruz’s determination to want the best performances possible was fulfilled.
For the pilot training program that pilots are continuing, LaRosa Jr. says jet photography allows audiences to watch live combat aircraft, while IMAX cameras are mounted inside and outside the F / A-18. “As an audience, I feel like we’re going up there with them.” It’s a perfect blend of life with our actors being absolutely in these planes, maneuvering and pulling G and also allowing the audience to see where we are to navigate in space and see these planes maneuver low in and around training range. ”
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