"I'm old and fat." Kelly McGillis knows exactly why she's not in the Top Gun sequel. 

She played astrophysicist and civilian Top Gun instructor Charlie Blackwood in iconic ’80s action film Top Gun. 

But don’t expect to see Kelly McGillis sending Tom Cruise’s heart racing in the sequel Top Gun: Maverick.

In fact, the Golden Globe nominee wasn’t even asked to be part of the film – but she wasn’t really too surprised about that.

Watch the trailer for Tom Cruise’s new movie Top Gun: Maverick. Post continues after video. 

To McGillis, the reason is really quite simple.

“I’m old and I’m fat and I look age-appropriate for what my age is, and that is not what that whole scene is about,” the 62-year-old actress recently told Entertainment Tonight. 

No doubt she looked at a 57-year-old Tom Cruise – yep, he really is 57 – and wondered like the rest of us what deal with the devil he negotiated to stop ageing after he filmed Top Gun at 24.

via GIPHY

She added: “But… I’d much rather feel absolutely secure in my skin and who and what I am at my age as opposed to placing a value on all that other stuff.”

In the upcoming film, Cruise reprises his role as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, with Jennifer Connelly, 48, starring as his main love interest.

Although McGillis doesn't know Connelly personally, she told ET that she was "so glad that she got that opportunity".

These days McGillis has largely left the Hollywood spotlight behind, now residing in North Carolina with her two daughters Sonora and Kelsey Tillman.

"I think just my priorities in life changed," she said. "It wasn't like a major decision that I made to leave, it was just that other things became more important. I love acting, I love what I do, I love doing theater, but I don't know. To me, my relationships to other people became far more important than my relationship to fame."

McGillis said she initially left Hollywood to "get sober" and to "figure out who the hell" she was.

"It was very challenging for me to have any kind of sense of self or self-identity or real self-worth other than what I did for a living," she admitted. "And it just – it didn't become a priority; what became the priority initially was raising my girls and being the best sober parent I could be."

At 62, McGillis is content with her life.

"I can't remember the last time I worked," she told ET. "I feel really blessed that I don't have to work, you know? But I get the option to work, so I'm really blessed in that way. Not many people get that option later in life, so I feel very lucky."

As for whether McGillis is looking forward to a Top Gun sequel, well, let's just say she doesn't quite have the need for speed anymore. She hasn't even seen the newly-released trailer yet.

"I'm not racing to the theatre, and I'm not racing away from the theatre to see it," she said. "It's just not on my little list of things that I would like to get done."