Top Gun star's harrowing life before turning back on fame

Irish Daily Mirror

05-05-2025

The 80s classic Top Gun catapulted its cast to stardom, including the character of flight instructor Charlie, played by Kelly McGillis, who became one of Hollywood's most sought-after actresses. Fast forward three decades and life has dealt her some tough cards.
Born into a well-off family in Newport Beach, California, McGillis moved to New York to chase her acting dreams, studying at the renowned Julliard School. Despite being robbed at gunpoint in her second year, she didn't let the incident deter her ambitions.
However, in 1982, four years before her breakthrough role, McGillis faced a harrowing experience when two intruders broke into her apartment and raped her at knifepoint. Her screams alerted a neighbour who called the police, leading to the assailants' attempt to escape and subsequent arrest, with the main perpetrator sentenced to three years in prison.
In a 1988 interview with People Magazine, McGillis recounted the terrifying event: "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 that time, she shared an apartment with another woman and believed the attack was a divine "punishment" for her sexuality, reports the Mirror US.
McGillis persevered through tough times to land her major role with Harrison Ford in the film Witness in 1985. By 1988, she starred as a prosecutor in The Accused alongside Jodie Foster, tackling the heavy subject of seeking justice for a rape victim, hoping it would help her process her own past trauma.
Her personal life also saw its share of turbulence. In 1989 McGillis married yacht salesman Fred Tillman and although they had two daughters together, their marriage faced challenges, exacerbated when Tillman was caught hiring a prostitute who turned out to be an undercover policewoman.
The duo attempted to make a fresh start by moving to Florida and setting up a bar called Kelly's, where McGillis formed an intimate bond with bartender Melanie Leis. Describing their shared struggles at the time, Leis stated: "We were partners in crime and were both drinking and abusing drugs."
After her divorce in 2002 from Tillman, McGillis stepped away from Tinseltown spotlight to focus on raising her children with Leis in the tranquillity of rural Pennsylvania, later moving to New Jersey to pursue a career as a rehab counsellor.
Returning to acting in 2008, McGillis had a role in The L Word, a lesbian TV drama, and a year later she publicly came out, telling SheWired.com: "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."
In 2016, she became the target of an attack when an intruder broke into her North Carolina residence.
Then in 2022, when casting for 'Top Gun: Maverick' was underway, McGillis wasn't selected to return to the iconic series, which she believes is due to her refusal to undergo plastic surgery or revert her hair to its famous blonde hue - a claim director Joseph Kosinski has refuted.
Speaking candidly to ET at age 62, she offered a blunt perspective on the beauty standards of Tinseltown: "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."