Exclusive: Greg ‘Tarzan’ Davis On Playing Coyote In Top Gun: Maverick & Working With Tom Cruise On Next Mission Impossible film
Currently among the top films at the box office and with over a billion dollars in grosses is the Top Gun: Maverick, which is directed by Joseph Kosinski and stars Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Charles Parnell, Bashir Salahuddin, Monica Barbaro, Jay Ellis, Danny Ramirez, Greg Tarzan Davis with Ed Harris. This is the long awaited sequel to the 1986 blockbuster in which Cruise is reprising his role as Maverick.
After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. When he finds himself training a detachment of TOPGUN graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: “Rooster,” the son of Maverick’s late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka “Goose”.
For Davis, who plays LT Javy "Coyote" Machado, this is so far the biggest role in the New Orleans native’s acting career. Although his other acting credits include Tales from the Hood 2 and The Call of the Wild, it doesn’t get any better than working alongside Tom Cruise in this film and gaining a friendship so much that he will be working with Cruise again in the upcoming Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. In speaking with Blackfilmandtv.com, Davis goes over his experience in the making of Top Gun Maverick and the bond he created with his castmates.
How did landing a role in this film come about?
Greg ‘Tarzan’ Davis: I auditioned for a different movie actually. I was auditioning for a casting director on this movie called The Call of The Wild. I only had a few lines in it, but I think it left an impression on her enough for her to call me for this top-secret project. She didn’t tell me what it was, but you know my team and I, we guessed it was Top Gun based off the sides. So when I went in, I got the call back. I went in twice for different roles and then she finally told me like “Yo, this is for Top Gun” and we were like, ‘This is crazy!' I auditioned for Joe Kosinsky the director and he ended up sending my tape to Tom Cruise. When I found out that Tom Cruise was watching my tape, I was, ‘This shit is insane. It’s nuts.' That was the highlight of my career at that point. After I wrapped up ‘Call of the Wild, my team gave me a call and they didn’t say anything. All they did was play the Top Gun music in the background. And when they played that I was geeking. 'Are you serious?' Oh my God. That was a memorable moment that I will never forget.
Did you have your choice of call sign or were you always Coyote?
Greg ‘Tarzan’ Davis: Well, you know, I’d say because I went off different roles, I think I did have a choice of call sign because it was based on my personality, so Coyote basically gravitated towards me. We did have a chance to change our call sign. It just stuck though. Everybody fell in love with who they were and we just kept it the same.
How would you best describe Coyote?
Greg ‘Tarzan’ Davis: Coyote is on a lower ladder of the dog pack and I think that speaks volume to Coyote, the character in the movie because he has to fight his way to the top. Although he’s the best of the best, he feels like he always has to prove himself to other people why he’s the best of the best and that is seen in the film I believe. And also, coyotes could be loveable jokesters like the real animal. They could be like jokesters and conniving a little bit but in a good way. That’s who Coyote is with all of the Navy pilots from Top Gun. He’s loveable, everybody loves him and he’s friendly
How much fun was it on the set? This has been a long time coming. Filming was held back because of Covid and then you come back. On screen everybody is having fun. Was it the same off screen?
Greg ‘Tarzan’ Davis: Oh yes. Now on set there was a lot of weight towards me, but we knew how important this film was, to not only Tom but all the people who saw the original Top Gun. It was serious but at the same time we had a great time offset and to clown around each other. We’d go out for drinks, we’d go out to dinner, partying. I’ve built relationships with these group of actors. They’re my family now. We’ve kept in contact even throughout the release before the pandemic and stuff like that. We’d go on vacation together, go to freaking baby showers, weddings, etc. This is my family forever.
Do you take stock into the character you’re playing? You’re playing a pilot, an aviator. Do you have much more appreciation for the guys who are really in the sky?
Greg ‘Tarzan’ Davis: We spent about a year with these Navy ladies and gentlemen, and I had respect for them before but to have live a fraction of what they went through. I gained much more respect for them because it’s intense. It’s hard and we did it for a movie but just imagine doing it in real life like being in the air. These things they have to do on the ground. Doing some intense stuff and I’m glad I had a chance to experience it because you’re always removed from certain stuff if you don’t experience it, so I felt like I was in the heat of all of it. I’m fortunate to have that.
You didn’t have that many scenes with Tom, but you made more of an impression that you are going to be on scene with him again with the next Mission Impossible film.
Greg ‘Tarzan’ Davis: Yes, yes, I am.
Was that something you tried for or did Tom have a hand in you being in the movie
Greg ‘Tarzan’ Davis: Well, you know I got a call from Christopher McQuarrie, the director and writer of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One and I thought he was calling about ADR for Top Gun and he was like, ‘No, I’m calling about Mission Impossible,' and I was ‘Ok, what you got to tell me.' So, he told me during filming that him and Tom had discussed me joining the movie and how they wrote a role for me, and they didn’t know what it was yet, and they don’t even have a script yet, but they wanted to see if I was interested before they called on someone else. I was like, ‘Hell yeah, I’m interested. Why not?’ It’s mission impossible. Funny enough, I had a vision board while I was working with him. The vision board had mission impossible on there, but I didn’t have to be an actor. I had it just to shadow them for the year that they would be filming the movie. The manifestation came true and I ended up being able to shadow them as a filmmaker and become an actor in the film.
Between those two films what have you learned as an actor? You’ve done TV. You’ve done Grey’s Anatomy. Doing TV is different from film and that you’ve done two big budget movies. Is there anything you’re taking away from doing both of these movies?
Greg ‘Tarzan’ Davis: There’s nothing I can’t do. In working with Tom, Tom gives you this unbelievable courage and belief in yourself that’s incredible. He is a true leader and his energy, his mindset, all of it is very infectious. Having done Top Gun: Maverick that required a lot of us (each individual actor) from flying in the aircrafts, being your own director and cinematographer and stuff like that, riding in the cockpit as well as filming Mission Impossible during a global pandemic and traveling across the world and doing these types of stunts, that showed me there is nothing you can put in front of me that I can not do. So, moving on to other projects, it makes it easy. 'This is what we’re doing?’ Ok, I know how to conquer that because Tom has shown me how to break it down and do this and do that. Going on other projects like Grey anatomy I’m not as overwhelmed as I would have been if I didn’t have those real life experiences like any major blockbuster film. I'm looking forward to working on other projects like independent films and moving into different genres like romcoms, comedy drama just to stretch myself and see how much I have learned and take away from these experiences from these blockbusters
Where did the name Tarzan come from?
Greg ‘Tarzan’ Davis: I used to be a wild child and I had long hair and they used to call me Tarzan then and when I am doing social media, I was trying to figure out exactly what I want people to call me, and Greg is boring. I hate hearing people call me Greg. The only people that call me Greg are my mom and family, so I was like I’m gonna go with Tarzan. I dressed up as him for Halloween and it stuck, and I was like Yeah, we’re gonna go with that Tarzan? I told my mom I was going to change my name to Tarzan and she said, ‘Boy, you better not!' What about a middle name she was like, ‘Alright, cool,' so I became Greg Tarzan Davis. The Greg Tarzan Davis.