Is Penny Benjamin in the Original "Top Gun"? Penny, played by Jennifer Connelly, is not physically in the first "Top Gun" movie, but she does exist in it, though only mentioned in passing. She is never actually seen on screen.
How Do Penny and Maverick Know Each Other? Penny Benjamin used to be Maverick's girlfriend, long before Maverick fell in love with Top Gun instructor Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood (portrayed by Kelly McGillis in the original Top Gun movie).
The night before the mission, Maverick visits Penny in his ceremonial white uniform, presumably to say goodbye in case he doesn't make it back. With Maverick flying in the mission, there are now only five places left.
Kelly McGillis wasn't asked to return for Top Gun: Maverick, and the absence of her character Charlie raised eyebrows. The decision to not include Charlie in Top Gun 2 was to focus on looking forward instead of backward.
Is Penny's house in Top Gun: Maverick the same as Charlie's?
They both have charming homes by the sea in the San Diego area but they are different. Charlie's note to Maverick in Top Gun said she lived at 100 Laurel Beach – a bungalow that is now a pie shop and tourist attraction; Penny's house number is 391.
Top Gun 3 – Trailer (2025) Tom Cruise, Miles Teller | Paramount Pictures
How is Penny connected to the first Top Gun?
Before being the central love interest in Top Gun: Maverick, Penny is actually mentioned in the original Top Gun, being one of Maverick's former love interests.
In one scene, Maverick's past exploits are said to include "a history of high-speed passes over five air-control towers and one admiral's daughter," and Maverick's BFF Goose mutters Penny's name under his breath — making her the "admiral's daughter" in question.
Summary. Director Joseph Kosinski defends Meg Ryan's absence as Carole Bradshaw in Top Gun: Maverick, arguing that it was in the best interest of the story. The director explains that Carole's absence is what gives power to the Maverick and Rooster arc and that it was a "hard" choice.
Penny, played by Jennifer Connelly, is not physically in the first "Top Gun" movie, but she does exist in it, though only mentioned in passing. She is never actually seen on screen.
Penny is Maverick's on-again, off-again love in Top Gun: Maverick. While in the first film he was romantically involved with Charlie, a civilian liaison at the Top Gun Fighter School, he's since moved on decades later. Now, he's linked to Penny, a divorced single mom who owns a bar near the Top Gun school.
Penny Benjamin is the new love interest of CAPT Pete "Maverick" Mitchell turned girlfriend. Briefly mentioned in Top Gun and makes a physical appearance in Top Gun: Maverick.
For civilians, this means no hats. Second, there's no touching the model airplanes, or as the prop in the film puts it, "He who touches any aircraft here shall buy the house a round of cheer." Finally, "whoever places their phone on the bar shall buy a round of cheer."
Maverick and Penny may have had a romantic relationship several times over the years but he is not Amelia's father. Her real father is out of the picture and Penny raises her daughter as a single mother.
The Award-Winning Actor Was Diagnosed With Throat Cancer In 2015. Val Kilmer's own battle with throat cancer severely impacted his ability to speak, and the actors illness was incorporated into the Iceman Top Gun story for his appearance in the sequel.
The romantic subplot being so important in both movies added emotional depth and maturity to his character. Adding Jennifer Connelly to Top Gun: Maverick gave the movie dramatic weight, and their relationship was much more important than just seeing who replaced Charlie in Maverick's life.
In the original Top Gun, Penny Benjamin is mentioned twice. the first is when Maverick and Goose are being chewed out by Stinger, their squadron commander. Stinger: “… with a history of high-speed passes over five air control towers, and one admiral's daughter!” Goose (in an aside): “Penny Benjamin?”
Despite the optics of shirtless volleyball games and locker room sparring, you can't make a “Top Gun” movie without a strong and emotionally centered woman. For “Top Gun: Maverick,” a sequel 36 years in the making, the successor to the original film's Kelly McGillis is Jennifer Connelly.
In 2015, she released a five-song EP called Willing, and in 2017 she released an album titled "For My Folks", which features a collection of standards. Kelly appears as Sarah Kazansky - wife of Val Kilmer's character Tom "Iceman" Kazansky - in the 2022 action drama movie Top Gun: Maverick.
Before the final mission, Goose's son, Rooster is still furious at Maverick and angrily makes the point that it doesn't matter if Maverick comes back from the mission or not. After all, he's got no wife and kids to mourn him. Maverick takes these words to heart and promptly proposes to Penny.
It is revealed that Maverick has consistently broken Penny's heart when he ends up leaving her as part of his cyclical behaviour, with Penny's teenage daughter Amelia Benjamin (Lyliana Wray) warning him not to do it again.
Since she mainly takes care of Sheldon, even jokingly appearing as a parental figure, Sheldon's label of her solidifies Penny's importance. Singling her out of the other female characters, and the other males too aside from Leonard, Penny is deemed a vital person on the show through Sheldon's label.
