Jay Ellis is shooting for the stars when it comes to possible guest appearances on The Rookie: North spinoff — starting with his Top Gun costar Tom Cruise.
“I would love to have Tom come be on The Rookie: North with us,” Ellis, 44, exclusively told Us while promoting his new campaign with Citibank and American Airlines. “I’m throwing it out there.”
Ellis continued to playfully poke fun at the suggestion, saying, “‘Tom, [you should come join], wherever you are.’ [Since] he’s probably parachuting somewhere right now or doing a motorcycle jump over a cliff.”
The ideas didn’t stop there.
“I would love to have some of my costars come pop in. My Top Gun: Maverick costars and Insecure folks or Running Point people — or All Her Fault folks,” Ellis continued. “It’d be a lot of fun to have some of them come pop in and do an episode or two with us. I will be calling all of them. All of you will get text messages followed up by phone calls, and I will go through your agents as well.”
Before booking The Rookie: North, Ellis became a household name for his work on Insecure. He has also had notable TV roles on Running Point, All Her Fault and Not Suitable for Work. On the big screen, Ellis played Lieutenant Reuben “Payback” Fitch in Top Gun: Maverick opposite Cruise.
“You know Tom from, like, all the things you’ve seen and the interviews and the stunts he’s done. Then you get a chance to work with him, and he is a mentor, a friend, a costar, a producer,” Ellis recalled. “He’s all the things in one that you could possibly want. It is the experience of Tom as you get all of Tom, which is really, really amazing.”
Ellis credited Cruise, 64, for teaching him some valuable lessons.
“He is truly giving and caring. One of the one of my favorite things that I take with me — and I do this now — is he would walk in every single morning and he’d be like, ‘Hey, how’s your day? What do you need [for] today to be better? What can I help you do for your job to be better today?’” he told Us. “That’s leadership in a way that’s not often taught.”
Ellis also picked up some skills in front of the screen, adding, “You can’t work with Tom Cruise and then not do your own stunts. He sets the bar so high, so you have to [like I did in The Rookie: North].”
While Ellis didn’t have a major update on Top Gun 3, he expressed excitement at the possibilities.
“I hope we call it Top Gun: Payback. There is a script. We do know that they’re trying to figure it out,” he teased. “I’ve been really fortunate actually through my whole career to work with some folks who, like, on the creative side will not rush anything. They will bake creative as long as it needs to be baked — the story and the characters — for it to be right.”
He continued: “This is one of those instances now where, you know, it took Tom years to make Top Gun: Maverick. We also have to honor that and realize that there is a way to do it. There is a purpose behind it and how it’s done. This is a creative team that is going to honor that and make sure that it’s done in the right way.”
Ellis isn’t just waiting to return for Top Gun 3. He is booked and busy with The Rookie: North while also partnering on the go with the Citi / AAdvantage Executive Mastercard.
“I come from an aviation family. My maternal and paternal grandparents were in the Air Force. My dad was in the Air Force and then he went to work for American Airlines, where he still works 30 years later. My uncle worked for American Airlines for 30-something years,” Ellis shared. “So travel has been in my family for a very long time. We all have this wanderlust and love to get on a plane and go somewhere and explore.”
Ellis called the collaboration “a dream,” saying, “We get to take these things that we love — or at least these things that I love — and all these experiences and cultures and moments and food and beautiful landscapes. I also get to do it very comfortably, which I think is really really cool.”
He added, “The Citi / AAdvantage Executive Mastercard allows me to travel in a very comfortable way, which makes me super happy. A lot of perks and a lot of miles so that makes me super happy.”
