Tom Cruise Gave Glen Powell His Blessing To Do Both Top Gun: Maverick And Devotion
When two star-studded films about naval aviation premiere within the same year, there’s bound to be some comparison between them. For “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Devotion,” both of which feature actor Glen Powell, such comparisons are all but inevitable. There are, of course, a few differences between the films: While “Maverick” is the follow-up to a great (and fictional) Tom Cruise film, “Devotion” depicts the true story of naval aviators Lt. Tom Hudner (Powell) and Ensign Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors). Still, that’s not quite enough to keep jokes about Powell’s fascination with flight at bay. Paired with the fact that he’s also got his pilot’s license in real life, it’s a bit more than a casual coincidence.
Powell himself is well-aware of the pattern beginning to emerge in his filmography. It made it difficult to say yes to “Top Gun,” especially since he had a responsibility to “Devotion” as the film’s executive producer. The chance to star in the latter — and in a role that was tailor-made for Powell — was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Still, Powell felt a pressure to choose between one or the other. It wasn’t until he brought these concerns to Cruise himself that he realized the solution wasn’t as black and white.