Some Top Gun: Maverick Actors 'Almost Cried' Over A Scene's Direction

Of all the scenes from the original "Top Gun," it's the volleyball sequence that really took on a life of its own. The plot is basically put on hold for two minutes so we can watch these sculpted military guys hang out shirtless in the sun, with long lingering shots of their sweat-soaked bodies. Let's just say there's a reason why film critic Pauline Kael described the film as a "shiny homoerotic commercial."

It came as no surprise that the movie's long-awaited sequel, "Top Gun: Maverick," gave viewers another version of this sequence. This time, the crew goes out to play football on the beach, not volleyball. It turns out that half the actors were supposed to be wearing shirts in this new version, but their outcry forced the director to change the script. As Miles Teller, who played Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, explained in a recent interview:

"Originally it was supposed to be shirts versus skins. [...] And there was a couple of guys that literally almost started crying because they had just been dieting and working out so much. This was their moment. Some of the guys maybe who didn't have as many lines or something. This was a very big deal. I think we probably had a little team meeting and we're like [...] 'We're going to tell them we're all going skins.'"

Director Joseph Kosinski acceded to the actors' requests, leading to a football sequence where almost everyone is shirtless and showing off their muscles. The sequence ended up featured in a lot of the movie's marketing, almost as an implicit acknowledgement that the sequel knows exactly why some people loved the first movie. But did the football scene measure up to the iconic volleyball scene? Opinions are mixed. 

Although it was very polite of the "Top Gun" series to once again pander to the gays, some fans believe the scene failed to match up to the original's eroticism. The camera didn't linger as much on the actors' bodies, nor did it get as close up to them. 

Another factor in the original scene's appeal is how gratuitous it is. As the wise Dan Kois explained in his comparison between the two scenes for Slate, "The screenplay offered just a few sentences of description about a 'vicious volleyball game' on base. The scene makes no attempt to advance the story." This was the aspect that truly made the scene memorable, that highlighted to gay men and straight female viewers that this was a movie made with them in mind. 

Meanwhile, "Maverick" provides an actual plot reason for the football game, using it as a clear teambuilding exercise to further the characters' arcs. From a screenwriting perspective, this is better, but concise writing is not what every "Top Gun" fan was looking for here. 

When it comes to its homoeroticism, "Maverick" does win out in at least one way. Whereas the volleyball scene had all guys in it, the football scene had one named woman (Phoenix, played by Monica Barbaro) in a bathing suit. If "Maverick" wanted to avoid any homoerotic allegations, it could've easily filmed her character with the same level of attention it gave the guys; instead, the camera ignored her almost entirely. While some straight "Top Gun" fans are often angered by any queer readings of the films, it seems clear that the actual movies don't mind them at all.