People: Aug. 12, 1985

"Realism was very important to me," says Tom Cruise of his latest acting assignment. To prepare for the role of a trainee Navy jet fighter pilot in Top Gun, now filming on location at Miramar Naval Air Station near San Diego, the star of Risky Business has been tagging along with actual flyers, on the ground and in the air, in a TA-4 single-engine fighter. "The maneuvers look graceful from the ground," says the actor, "but it's amazing how violent it is inside the cockpit. You are just holding on with five Gs pulling at you and the blood is leaving...

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