The Walking Dead’s Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Norman Reedus Fanboyed Over Top Gun Star Tom Cruise

The Walking Dead stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Norman Reedus turned into total fanboys around Top […]

July 22, 2019, 3:56pm

The Walking Dead stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Norman Reedus turned into total fanboys around Top Gun: Maverick star Tom Cruise during a backstage encounter at Conan.

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“It doesn’t get any cooler,” Morgan told ComicBook.com at San Diego Comic-Con.

“I mean, I grew up watching Risky Business and Top Gun, and we’ve been talking about Top Gun — and when I say ‘we,’ I mean the world has been talking about Top Gun 2 — since they made the first one, as well as Tom has been talking about it.”

When Cruise made a surprise appearance at Comic-Con with the first look at the Joseph Kosinski-directed sequel to the 1986 hit, the Walking Dead stars couldn’t pass up the chance at a meeting.

“Norman and I were there just being idiots, and he came on as the guest. And we saw the trailer backstage and we looked at each other like, ‘Should we stay, see if we can meet him? Yeah, we should stay, see if we can meet him,’” Morgan said.

“He came down and we spent a good 45 minutes talking to him, and we were trying so hard to be cool. You know when you’re sort of outside yourself looking at yourself going, ‘You’re being an idiot right now?’ But he was so genuine and cool, and made eye contact the whole time, and we covered a lot of bases, it was neat. We have moments in this business where we’re fanboys, and that was definitely one of them for me.”

Asked by co-star Nadia Hilker if the legendary Cruise was “everything you thought he would be,” Morgan said he was “and more.”

@ConanOBrien tonight. Me, norm, and this fella we found on the street. @TomCruise I think is what he said his name was?? xojd pic.twitter.com/vAeQJhCaod
— Jeffrey Dean Morgan (@JDMorgan) July 19, 2019

“As it’s time to say goodbye, it was like — we hadn’t asked for a picture, we were trying to maintain our dignity — and I was like, ‘Hey, man, can we do a picture with you?’ And he of course was like, ‘Absolutely!’” Morgan added.

“Norman looks over at me and he whispers in my ear, ‘Thank God you did that.’ [Laughs] That was my highlight.”

The Walking Dead Season 10 premieres Sunday, October 6 on AMC. Cruise returns as Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick, in theaters June 26, 2020.