When Tom Cruise tells you to meet him at the airport at 5 a.m. for a surprise, you don’t say no. But James Corden kind of wished he had, when he realized what Cruise had in store for him in preparation for “Top Gun: Maverick.”
On Monday night’s episode of “The Late Late Show,” Corden took his audience through his “Top Gun” day with Cruise, which indeed began at 5 a.m. Together, the two headed to an airfield, and reflected on their last adventure together: skydiving. But this, time Cruise had other plans for Corden — they were going flying.
Of course, Corden promptly tried to run away upon learning that there wouldn’t be a professional pilot in the plane, just Cruise and himself.
“You’re not a pilot, you’re an actor,” Corden reminded Cruise. “With all due respect, you played a lawyer in ‘A Few Good Men.’ I wouldn’t want you to represent me in court, OK?”
Still, Corden got in the plane, and Cruise took him through a real (simulated) dogfight, terrifying the late night host in the process. And he wasn’t done. After the first flight, Cruise sat Corden down for “Top Gun Training,” channeling his inner Maverick — and Corden tried to run away once more.
“You can do this,” Cruise assured him. “James listen, you’re my Goose. You are my Goose.”
Corden was excited by that prospect … until he remembered what happened to Goose in the first “Top Gun” film (spoiler alert: he died). Even so, he persisted still. Cruise showed Corden what g-force would feel like by molding Corden’s face with his hands, he mimicked the sounds and flight path of the next plane, and even played a game of sand volleyball with the late night host.
You can watch the full segment in the video here and above.