×
Cookies help us deliver our Services. By using our Services, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn More.

The Iconic Scene That Miles Teller Was Surprised To See In Top Gun: Maverick

It's been some time now since "Top Gun: Maverick" hit theaters and officially became Tom Cruise's highest-grossing film ever (via Deadline). Of course, "Top Gun: Maverick" is a sequel coming over 30 years after its predecessor, "Top Gun," the 1986 classic featuring Cruise's Lieutenant Pete Mitchell, aka "Maverick," and his radar intercept officer, Lieutenant Nick Bradshaw, aka "Goose" (Anthony Edwards). The pair is sent to the Navy's Fighter Weapons School — otherwise known as Top Gun, to compete against the best pilots in the military. Maverick's bold and reckless flying rubs Lieutenant Tom Kazansky, aka Iceman (Val Kilmer), the wrong way and plays a role in the accidental death of Goose, nearly ending Maverick's career. However, Maverick ultimately saves Iceman's life at the end of the film, burying the hatchet and honoring Goose's memory.

"Top Gun: Maverick" picks up in the present day with an aged Maverick who remains a captain in the Navy, testing the fastest planes in the world before being called back to Top Gun to train former graduates for an incredibly dangerous mission. Among the graduates is Lieutenant Bradley Bradshaw, aka "Rooster" (Miles Teller) — Goose's son. With encouragement from a dying Iceman, Maverick flies with Rooster to complete the mission, both saving each other's lives in the process.

Like its predecessor, "Top Gun: Maverick" features scenes that will surely become iconic, although there is one scene in particular that even Teller was surprised to see when the film came out.

Miles Teller didn't know they filmed him dancing for Top Gun: Maverick

In a recent interview with Extra TV discussing "Top Gun: Maverick" and the Netflix film "Spiderhead," Miles Teller was asked about a particular scene in the "Top Gun" sequel that has become wildly popular: the beach montage. More specifically, there's a specific dance move that Teller's Rooster does during "dogfight football" that has a page on TikTok with over three million views. Speaking about his dance move, Teller said, "That's really a dance that me and my buddies have done just ... When everybody's dancing very seriously, it was just always something we would do to just break the ice a little bit." Teller then claimed that he truly didn't know that he was being filmed at that moment, so it was "a nice surprise" when he saw the film's final cut.

Teller has discussed the challenging diet, exercise, and trade secrets of dehydration that went into preparing for the beach montage scene in general (via Joe) — proving there's a lot going on to make it look the way it does. Besides working with a trainer and a nutritionist, Teller learned a trick about how to use soda to his advantage. "You just try and dehydrate yourself as much as possible, and then oddly enough, when you're on set that day, when your body's been deprived of sugar and sodium and all these things, you drink a can of Coke, and when your body gets all that sugar, everything tightens up. And so you get this certain vascular look that looks good on-screen," he explained.