Celebrity News March 10, 2023
Tom Cruise Poses for Selfies with Sailors at ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Screening on Navy Aircraft Carrier
Tom Cruise, 60, paid a visit to a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier for a special screening of “Top Gun: Maverick” earlier this month.
Cruise was joined by “Ted Lasso” star Hannah Waddingham, 48, who was just announced as his co-star in “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One”!
Producer Christopher McQuarrie and editor Eddie Hamilton were also at the special meet-and-greet on the USS George H.W. Bush, located in the Adriatic Sea. The ship has been deployed since departing Norfolk in August 2022.
Photos from the event show Tom and Hannah touring the ship, talking with the crew, and posing for selfies. Tom looked casual in a blue bomber jacket and sweater, while Hannah wore a black turtleneck and dark pants.
.@TopGunMovie crew 🤝 USS George H.W. Bush @GHWBCVN77 crew
— U.S. Navy (@USNavy) March 10, 2023 @USNavy
What better deployment highlight than Tom Cruise and his team stopping by for a visit?!
Read more: https://t.co/wtFKvuhK9z pic.twitter.com/0ozMrE42vD
Rear Adm. Dennis Velez, commander, CSG-10, George H.W. Bush CSG said in a press release, “I know our Sailors will never forget that night in the hangar bay, and I am equally as certain that neither will Mr. Cruise. The sailors of the George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group represent what is best about America. Their commitment and courage is on display every day, and I know Tom and his entire team left with a fuller appreciation of the capabilities and power of U.S. Navy's carrier strike groups — and the dedication and grit of our sailors that make it all possible.”
Capt. Dave Pollard, the aircraft carrier’s commanding officer, and also a Top Gun graduate and instructor, added, “While ‘Top Gun’ will always be an American and Navy classic, Tom, Chris, Eddie, and their team outdid themselves with Top Gun: Maverick’! Every minute they spent with the crew of our mighty warship paid dividends toward our crew’s morale from the top down. It buoys my spirits to know that the leading entertainers and filmmakers of our day not only conceptually know what we do, but they can relate to what our nation’s warriors do on a daily basis through their personal experiences aboard USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77).”
“Top Gun: Maverick” is nominated for six Oscars on Sunday: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Original Song, Best Visual Effects, and Best Sound.
McQuarrie posted about the visit on Instagram calling it "an experience we will never forget."
He followed up with a photo of Waddingham, announcing her casting in the new "Mission Impossible"!