Lewis Hamilton has said that his Formula One schedule caused him to decline a part in Top Gun: Maverick.
The seven-time world-champion racing driver told Vanity Fair that the 1986 version was his favorite film and that he would have wanted to be part.
Hamilton also revealed that he and Tom Cruise are friends: “Basically I’m a friend of Tom [Cruise]. One of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. He invited me to his set years ago when he was doing Edge of Tomorrow, and then we just built a friendship over time.”
He said that it was him that was chasing a role in the hit blockbuster: “When I heard the second one was coming out, I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I have to ask him’.
“I said ‘I don’t care what role it is. I’ll even sweep something, be a cleaner in the back’.”
Hamilton later rejected down a fighter pilot role from Cruise because of schedule difficulties with his F1 obligations.
Hamilton said: “I’m a perfectionist. There just wasn’t time.”
The racing driver’s days in Hollywood aren’t done, either, as he’s working on a Formula 1 movie starring Brad Pitt. Although Hamilton is producing the movie, there are rumors that he will only have a tiny part in it.