Miles Teller initially turned down role in Top Gun: Maverick

Miles Teller initially turned down the chance to star in Top Gun: Maverick because he didn't want to deal with the attention.

The 33-year-old plays Lieutenant Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw, the son of Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw, in the highly-anticipated sequel, but confessed it took a lot of convincing for him to agree to star in the big-screen blockbuster.

"I don't want this to come out the wrong way, but there was a part of me that didn't know if I wanted to be a part of something that could bring that much attention and success to me," he told Men's Health. "Everybody views success differently. For me, it didn't necessarily mean being a part of the biggest movie."

However, leading man Tom Cruise was determined to ensure Miles signed up to star in the follow-up to the 1986 original and even travelled in secret to speak privately with the Fantastic Four star after sending the Top Gun: Maverick script to Kauai, where Miles was on vacation with his wife.

Elsewhere in the interview, Miles revealed that one of the reasons he eventually agreed to star in the movie was to honour his grandfather, who was a U.S. Marine, and his uncle, who served during the Vietnam War.

"He got MS (multiple sclerosis) toward the end of his life and he thought it was penance for what he did over there," he shared. "You wanna give a voice to these guys.

"In the wars that we fight now, our military comes from very specific parts of the country and socioeconomic classes. We're losing that connection between civilians and military and our veterans."