Tragic life of Top Gun heartthrob who turned back on fame

Daily Record

05-05-2025

Kelly McGillis shot to fame as the love interest of Tom Cruise's character in the 1986 film Top Gun, but behind the scenes her life was filled with tragedy and heartbreak
The 1986 blockbuster Top Gun turned many of its actors into stars, among them the character Charlie, played by Kelly McGillis, who captivated audiences and emerged as one of Tinseltown's most sought-after actresses. However, three decades later, her journey through stardom has been marked by personal tragedies that are worlds apart from her character's glamour.
Hailing from the upmarket neighbourhood of Newport Beach in California, Kelly McGillis's life took a stark turn after relocating to New York to chase her acting aspirations. Her time in the city began with a terrifying encounter during her second year while studying at the renowned Juilliard School, where she was robbed at gunpoint.
‌
Although shaken, the brazen attack didn't deter her from her passion.
‌
Yet, in 1982, tragedy struck again—just a few years before her star-making performance in Top Gun. She faced a nightmarish scenario when two intruders burst into her residence and subjected her to a rape ordeal at knifepoint.
Her plight only ceased when a neighbour responded to her screams, leading to police intervention and the subsequent apprehension and conviction of the culprits, with the chief attacker getting a three-year prison sentence, reports the Mirror US.
In an intimate revelation to People Magazine in 1988, McGillis recounted the harrowing details: "I'll never forget the way they smelled. Like alcohol and old sweat...While one watched, the taller one got on top of me and held the knife to my right eye...Then the other one got on top of me. They kept switching and telling me they were going to beat me until I was dead."
At the time of this terrible incident, she shared her home with another woman and agonizingly concluded that the assault was a divine "punishment" for her sexual orientation.
Despite the difficult experiences, McGillis pursued her dream career, landing a major part alongside Harrison Ford in 1985's Witness.
‌
In 1988, she portrayed a prosecutor opposite Jodie Foster in The Accused—a film about an attorney fighting for justice for a rape survivor—a role McGillis hoped would help her grapple with her own past.
1989 saw her marry yacht salesman Fred Tillman. What seemed like wedded bliss was complicated by McGillis' struggles with her sexuality and the marriage soon showed signs of strain.
The pair had two daughters, but their family faced turmoil when Tillman was caught hiring sex from an undercover policewoman posing as a prostitute not long after their second child's birth.
‌
In search of respite from New York's glare, they relocated to Florida and started operating a bar called Kelly's. There, McGillis developed a romance with bartender Melanie Leis.
Leis, who is openly gay, recalled: "We were partners in crime and were both drinking and abusing drugs."
‌
McGillis and her second husband parted ways in 2002, with the actress stepping away from the Hollywood spotlight to co-parent her children with Leis in rural Pennsylvania, eventually moving back to New Jersey where she became a rehabilitation counsellor.
On her return to acting with a lesbian TV series The L Word in 2008, McGillis made the decision to come out publicly a year later. In a candid interview with SheWired.com, she declared: "I'm done with the man thing.
"Life is a journey and it's about growing and changing and coming to terms with who and what you are and loving who and what you are."
After suffering an attack in 2016 when a stranger invaded her North Carolina home, actress McGillis once again faced disappointment.
Her absence from the 2022 "Top Gun: Maverick" cast raised eyebrows, with speculation that her refusal to undergo plastic surgery or dye her hair to its iconic blonde played a role—an assertion director Joseph Kosinski has rebutted.
Talking to ET, the 62 year old actress voiced her candid views on Tinseltown's beauty standards, declaring: "I'm old, and I'm fat and I look age-appropriate for what my age is. And that is not what that whole scene is about. I'd much rather feel absolutely secure in my skin and my age than place any value in all that other stuff."