Sir Lewis Hamilton is a seven-time F1 World Champion, tying Michael Schumacher's impressive record. With his racing career seemingly winding down, there's a lot of intrigue surrounding what he might do next. While he's investing in a variety of ventures, including the Denver Broncos, Hamilton may also be eyeing a Hollywood career.
Talking to Vanity Fair, the racing driver revealed that he approached his friend Tom Cruise about potentially being part of Top Gun: Maverick shortly after those sequel plans were announced.
Explaining that he loved the movie as a child and became fixated on the idea of becoming a fighter pilot, Hamilton explains that, "When I heard the second one was coming out, I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I have to ask him [Cruise]."
"I said, ‘I don’t care what role it is. I’ll even sweep something, be a cleaner in the back.’" Cruise agreed and even said Hamilton could play one of the movie's fighter pilots. Unfortunately, shooting clashed with the F1 season and had to pass on the role. He says that conversion with Cruise and director Joseph Kosinski was "the most upsetting call that I think I’ve ever had."
There's always a chance he can make up for missing out in the rumoured third Top Gun movie, but he's not done with Hollywood yet. Hamilton is producing Kosinski's untitled Formula 1 movie that will see Brad Pitt play a driver who comes out of retirement to compete alongside a rookie driver.
Hamilton is also serving as a script consultant on that to, as he puts it, "hear the B.S. that’s in the script because the Americans that are writing it are just getting newly accustomed to Formula 1."
So, he could be worth keeping an eye on outside of F1 over the next few years. The belief is that he's winding down his racing career after missing out on an eighth F1 world title last year when he was defeated by reigning champion Max Verstappen in the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.