In the original "Top Gun" Tom Cruise played the ambitious, daring, and certifiably handsome Pete "Maverick" Mitchell. In the film, Maverick is a young lieutenant who trains in the U.S. Navy's Fighter Weapons School (aka TOPGUN) alongside his best friend Nick "Goose" Bradshaw. When "Top Gun" was released in 1986, Cruise was an up-and-coming actor. He appeared in films like "The Outsiders" and "Risky Business" before landing his role in "Top Gun."