Lewis Pullman — Son Of Independence Day Star Bill Pullman— Enjoyed Playing A "Quiet Burning Ember" Character In Top Gun: Maverick

Lewis Pullman was pleased to play a modest character in Top Gun: Maverick.

Pullman, 29, portrays Lt. Robert "Bob" Floyd and Weapon Systems Officer for Monica Barbaro's Lt Natasha "Phoenix" Trace in Tom Cruise's long-awaited sequel to his 1986 classic.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Pullman, said he was happy that his alter ego lacks the confidence of some of his Top Gun peers: "It's all on the writing, but it's a pleasure to be the vessel.
"I really enjoyed playing Bob. I wanted to make sure that there was a pilot — because I was a pretty shy kid growing up — who represented maybe not the cockiest or most overly confident. He's more of a quiet burning ember who knows he can burst into flames at any moment. His only real need is to perform at a high level in the sky."

Pullman, whose other credits include 2018's crime thriller Bad Times at the El Royale, said: "That was an honour because so many of the Top Gun pilots who I met, they're geniuses, and they're badass — but they're also incredibly modest. So, I just wanted to make sure that was captured in some sense."

A family act: Lewis Pullman with father Bill Pullman at the Bad Times at the El Royale premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre, in Los Angeles on Sept 22, 2018.

Pullman also praised Cruise for the training regime he produced for the movie and how it helped the cast get better at flying through a gradual process.

He said: "Tom was so darn generous with his time and with his energy. And you know, he set up the entire training regiment for us himself. He designed it in a way that really crept up on us.

"In the beginning, it was like this is a summit that I don't know if I could reach. It's just crazy. But he gave us a very gradual on-ramp, so by the time we were actually pulling 8.5G's — it was there before we knew it.

"He understood the assignment and what we were going to need in order to be confident and give good performances up in these (F/A-18 Super Hornets) while actually pulling g's and doing these serious acrobatic manoeuvres." 

When asked, jokingly, if Pullman's father, actor Bill Pullman — who played fighter pilot-turned-US President Thomas J Whitman in 1996's Independence Day — had given him any aviation advice, the younger Pullman said, "I always run everything by him before I start a job, and he always delivers me gold.

"He used green screen in Independence Day, but he gave good movement advice, to really convey the physicality of what’s going on. Mainly, he offered to make sure this character felt real and grounded and to absorb everything from the real Top Gun pilots, so I could do justice to what they do."— BANG SHOWBIZ

Photos: TPG News/Click Photos