The time I attempted to shake Tom Cruise’s hand.

Feb 17, 2023, 11:48 AM

…..Since it’s slow and everyone else is doing this.

True story. I started out in the navy as an aircraft electrician on F-14 Tomcats. I was in VF-24 out of Miramar, CA. In late December, 1985 we had returned from what was my first cruise and promptly about February or March they moved a bunch of movie trailers into our parking lot at Hangar #4 so they could start shooting some movie. We knew Tom Cruise was going to be the lead actor but we had no idea how big this movie would become. Honestly, he was really the mega star that he is today until Topgun.

I would see tail markings on Tomcats that made no sense to me. VAW-110’s Firebird logo but it said VF-1 underneath it. Uhm, no. VF-1 is the Wolfpack. A fist clutching a lightning bolt and it said VF-213. Again, no. 213 was the Black Lions and that logo belonged to the Thunderbolts of VA-176, an east coast attack squadron.

It was all kind of confusing to me at the time. The only thing I really knew was that Tom Cruise was in this movie and he was playing the role of an F-14 fighter jock. BTW, they never made any attempts to get us out of their way or interfere with our mission at all. They just kind of did their Hollywood thing of shooting scenes in between our normal routine of flying sorties and maintaining aircraft. They were very efficient at getting in, getting their scene and getting out of the way.

One afternoon I was directed to go upstairs to talk to the Squadron Duty Officer about something. The SDO watch is manned 24/7. It’s essentially the official contact point for the squadron. The SDO desk sat in the back corner of the Ready Room with an access door to the passageway. That way you could step in and talk to the SDO personally without having to waltz through the Ready Room interrupting important stuff like classified briefings. ( No, briefings don’t ever take place in an open hangar. )

So I’m standing out there in that passageway waiting patiently for the SDO to finish with the long phone conversation he’s on and there’s all these khakis hanging out in the p-way that I don’t recognize. At first I thought maybe they were aircrews from VF-One-Filthy-Whore…..ur, I mean 154, the next hangar down. Then it dawned on me that these were likely the actors. So I’m trying to find Tom Cruise in the group.

There’s a short guy standing within arms reach off to my right. He has his back to me and there’s a taller guy facing me who’s talking to him. I really want to hear the short guy speak. Now who the taller guy is, I can’t say. Likely, Anthony Edwards who plays “Goose”. But that face is nobody to me before the movie comes out so I really don’t know.

I keep looking back over my right shoulder as I’m waiting on the SDO. After a few moments this seems to get the taller guy’s attention and he makes eye contact with me. That prompts the short guy to turn around and look. When he did I extended my right hand and said, “Tom Cruise ?”

He had these mirrored aviator shades on that absolutely no fighter pilot would ever wear and he pulled them down his nose to expose his eyes. He looked me dead in the eye and said, “What do YOU think ?”

Then he turned back around again just as quick. I never even had a chance to respond but I guess if I could have, I might have said, “I think you’re an a$$hat”.

Clearly the scene they were setting up to shoot was the day where they first arrive at Topgun school and Viper is up there talking about how the best of the best would have the option to come back as instructors. That scene is in our Ready Room. The red vertical blinds and the brown leather sofas. …..The VF-24 plaque on the wall….

BTW, I am 5’ 7” and in that brief eye to eye encounter with Tom Cruise I noticed I had him by about an inch. He’s 5’ 6” and a jerk.

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Shortly after it came out, I went to NBC studios I think it was NBC - could have been CBS or ABC - in NYC (my office was across the street on 6th Ave.) to obtain coat sizes for all of the on-air people as my company was providing free blazers for them to wear in exchange for a video credit.

I did the fittings in the makeup room where guests were getting their makeup applied before going on camera. The first person I fitted was #### Cavett. He asked what size I decided was best for him and I suggested a 38-regular. He said he had always been told he was a 37-short. I said "Well, it would appear that you're a bigger man than you thought." He got a chuckle out of that.

But a few minutes later Kelly McGillis sat down in the makeup chair. While waiting for my next persson to fit, I struck up a conversation with her and said I really enjoyed "Top Gun". Her reply was "Oh, I do so many films, I can't even remember it." I didn't have a polite comeback for that, but thought "Uhhhh, sure, lady - you phony conceited jackarse!"

I truly believe that if I didn't have a business deal to complete I would have told her that to her face.

The time I attempted to shake Tom Cruise’s hand.

That's an incredible story. Thanks for your service. Did

Re: The time I attempted to shake Tom Cruise’s hand.

You were in uniform when he said that to you?***

Re: You were in uniform when he said that to you?***

It must have been contagious for actors in that movie.

Re: It must have been contagious for actors in that movie.

Re: It must have been contagious for actors in that movie.

Re: The time I attempted to shake Tom Cruise’s hand.

Re: The time I attempted to shake Tom Cruise’s hand.

Re: The time I attempted to shake Tom Cruise’s hand.

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