Kelly McGillis may not have been much of a fixture of our screens of late, but thanks to her high-profile roles in such classics as Witness (1985), Top Gun (1986), and The Accused (1988), few of us will be unfamiliar with her work. While it was Witness that proved her breakthrough, it was her role as Charlotte Blackwood in Top Gun that catapulted her to household name status… which makes it something of a surprise to learn she’s neither been asked to appear in the upcoming sequel, nor has any real interest in seeing the film when it’s released next year. For another 10 facts about the actress, keep reading.
1. She was the victim of a home invasion
In June 2016, McGillis was left bruised and shaken after a woman broke into her home in North Carolina and proceeded to launch an unprovoked attack. Further to a police investigation into the matter, a 38-year-old woman named Laurence Marie Dorn was arrested and held on a bevy of charges, including second-degree burglary, misdemeanor larceny, misdemeanor stalking, assault and battery, and interfering with emergency communication. At trial, she was found guilty and convicted of misdemeanor breaking and entering.
2. She’s won multiple awards
In addition to being popular with viewers, McGillis has also proved a hit with critics. The actress scooped her first award nod in 1986, claiming a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture. The film that won her the nomination, Witness, also bagged her a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress. 1986 was the year McGillis graduated from nominee to victor, after her stellar performance in Top Gun won her a Bravo Otto award. A further Bravo Otto award for Best Actress for Made In Heaven came the following year, along with a Golden Ciak award for the same film.
3. She studied at Julliard
Like so many acting greats, McGillis began honing her skills from a young age. Born in Newport Beach, California, to Donald Mansion McGillis, a doctor, and Virginia Joan, a homemaker, she studied at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts before moving to New York to study acting at the world-famous Julliard School. While at Julliard, she began to audition for stage roles, landing her first acting gig in William Congreve’s Love for Love, directed by John Bletchley.
4. She came out in 2009
With two marriages and two children behind her, few were expecting to hear McGillis’ 2009 announcement that she identified as a lesbian. The revelation came during an interview with the SheWired.com internet show Girl Rock!. When asked what kind of partner she was looking for, McGillis replied, “Definitely a woman. I’m done with the man thing. You need to move on in life.” McGillis went on to describe the experience of coming out as an “ongoing process from the time I was probably 12,” and that her decision to finally speak about it was “part of being true to (myself).”
5. Her breakthrough role was in Witness
McGillis’ first film role came in the 1983 feature, Reuben, Reuben. 2 years later, she appeared in the film that would cement her status as one of Hollywood’s hottest new talents, Witness (1985). The film, which starred acting royalty Harrison Ford, earned McGillis both a Golden Globe and Bafta nomination and paved the way for her next major role as flight instructor Charlotte Blackwood in Top Gun.
6. She’s a prolific stage actress
McGillis may be best known for her film work, but she’s also worked extensively on stage. During the early 1980s, she appeared in numerous on and off-Broadway productions, while in the latter half of the decade she performed as a featured actress at the renowned Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington DC. After a hiatus from acting in the ‘90s, she resumed her acting career by re-joining the company, and has since appeared as Mrs. Robinson in a stage production of The Graduate, and alongside Julia Duffy in the 2009 production of The Little Foxes by Lilian Hellman.
7. She’s been married twice
McGillis might not be in the same league as Elizabeth Taylor when it comes to matrimony, but she’s still enjoyed her fair share of marriages. Her first came in 1979. The lucky groom on that occasion was a fellow Julliard student named Boyd Black. The marriage lasted just 2 years, and by 1981, McGillis found herself single once more. Wedding bells rang out again in 1989 when the actress married Fred Tillman. After welcoming two daughters into the family, things went south in the early 2000s and the couple finally called it a day in 2002.
8. She returned to TV in 2006
After several years of devoting herself to other ventures (including working for a spell at the Seabrook House Drug Alcohol Rehab Center), McGillis returned to our screens in 2006. Since then, she’s appeared in several noteworthy productions, including The L World (2007), The Innkeepers (2011), Love Finds You in Sugarcreek, Ohio (2014), Z Nation (2014), and Mother of All Secrets (2017)
9. Her art has reflected her life
In the late ’80s, McGillis appeared in The Accused, a harrowing portrayal of rape based loosely on the real-life assault of a young woman by four men in a New Bedford bar. McGillis plays the assistant district prosecutor charged with bringing the bystanders of the assault to justice. The actress was initially offered the part of the rape victim but declined the role (it eventually went to Jodie Foster instead), saying “I have been a victim in real life and have no need to re-create it on screen.” In 1982, McGillis was sexually assaulted by two men, a fact she kept secret until The Accused gave her the public platform to share her story. McGillis has since explained how she found filming the movie cathartic, telling People, “Filming The Accused last year brought back a lot of the old nightmares, but I was very enthusiastic about an issue that so deeply affected my life. When the project was finished, it was like a demon had been put to rest”.
10. She might see the Top Gun sequel… or she might not
McGillis may be a key figure in Top Gun’s history, but she’s pretty ambivalent about the upcoming sequel. Asked by The Cut, whether she even intended seeing the reboot, she answered “I’m not racing to the theater, and I’m not racing away from the theater to see it. It’s just not on my little list of things that I would like to get done.” We’ll take that as a no, then…
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