Podtalk: Bashir Salahuddin & Charles Parnell in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

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CHICAGO – The big excitement for Memorial Day weekend 2022 at the movies is the delayed-for-two-year release of “Top Gun: Maverick,” the sequel to the 1986 classic, both starring Tom Cruise. Two of his supporting actors in the film, both from Chicago, are Bashir Salahuddin and Charles Parnell.

When we meet Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Cruise) again, we find out that he has passed on promotions or training assignments to basically stay a Navy fighter pilot for 36 years. When a threat from an enemy creates an impossible bombing mission, Admiral Iceman (Val Kilmer) calls for Maverick to train an elite new class, which includes “Rooster” (Miles Teller), the son of his old wingman Goose, who died in the first Top Gun film. Supporting Maverick in this mission is Chief Warrant Office Bernie “Hondo’ Coleman (Salahuddin) and Rear Admiral Solomon “Warlock” Bates (Parnell). Can Maverick answer the call of his country, or will his ego prevent him from completing the assignment?

Bashir Salahuddin (left) & Charles Parnell in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’
Photo credit: Paramount Pictures

Bashir Salahuddin is an actor/writer/producer, a rising star since 2008. He landed a job with his writing partner Diallo Riddle on the “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” show from 2009-11. After various writing/acting assignments afterward, Salahuddin and Riddle co-created the TV series “South Side,” now heading for Season Three on HBO Max. Charles Parnell is a veteran character actor who began in 2000, and got his breakthrough role in the Michael Bay series “The Last Ship” (2014-18). He will also appear in the next installment of the “Mission Impossible” film series.

In a Podtalk with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, Charles Parnell and Bashir Salahuddin talk all things “Top Gun: Maverick” and their journeys to that film …

By PATRICK McDONALD Editor and Film Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com