THOUGH it may be considered common knowledge, especially after the buzz surrounding the film last year, for Top Gun: Maverick, the cast that played pilots all flew in real jets while making the film.
Due to needing to be in the air for the film’s flying scenes, Maverick’s stars can’t do what actors on regular sets do whenever they need to answer the call of nature, so they had to emulate what real-life pilots would do.
Speaking to Vanity Fair, Lewis Pullman, who plays weapon systems officer Robert “Bob” Floyd, explained that when the need to pee occurred, the cast had to resort to a few trusty bags.
“We had two boots of gelatin powder strapped to our calves. It would solidify because if there was a leak, it would be a disaster,“ he explained, referring to the piddle packs used by real-life fighter pilots.
“Let’s put it this way: I used both bags quite a bit.”
In an interview with ScreenRant, fellow co-star Monica Barbaro previously joked that there was a lack of bathroom breaks during filming, and that pilots would tell the cast to use the bag during long flights.
It didn’t end like this.
In Entertainment Weekly’s “Three Rounds” with the Maverick cast last year, Danny Ramirez pointed out that they were burning through barf bags as well.
“I think most of us could say that we were barfing quite a bit,” he joked.
“But I’ve never seen a group of people that puke and rally more than we do. We had a two-hour window to get the scene, and so you realise that you can’t let whatever’s coming out of you prevent you from getting what you have to get”.
