Yahoo Finance Jennifer Connelly Praises Top Gun: Maverick Costar Tom Cruise as an 'Extraordinary Actor'
VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Tom Cruise and Jennifer Connelly
Jennifer Connelly is giving props to Tom Cruise!
The Top Gun: Maverick actress, 51, spoke with PEOPLE on Monday at a screening of her upcoming action flick in New York City, attending the event alongside costar Jay Ellis.
Connelly says the recent 2022 Cannes Film Festival, at which Maverick premiered and which several cast members attended, "was epic" and "such a wonderful" experience that she felt it was an "honor" to be part of it.
It was also "a beautiful tribute to Tom and his career," Connelly says. "The reel at the beginning of the film, it was so impressive and so moving and he's really an extraordinary actor, so that was really beautiful, and was beautiful to see the acknowledgement, and watch him see it."
Connelly tells PEOPLE "it felt really celebratory being" at the Cannes premiere and screening, adding, "It was wonderful that people seemed to enjoy it, all the screenings that I've been to so far. People have seemed to have had a great time."
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Monica Schipper/Getty Images Jay Ellis and Jennifer Connelly
Ellis, 40, tells PEOPLE that Cruise, 59, "wanted all of us to be present" at Cannes, which he recalls as "so beautiful" and "a dream" of an event.
"One of the things that I think we all took from filming with [Tom] is making sure the audience is with you — like, 'Always remember the audience when you're making something.' Someone paid their $16, $14, whatever it is, to come see your movie. Like, it is your job to entertain them," he adds.
"That is literally his mindset," Ellis continues. "Like, 'My job is to entertain you, you spent your money to come see me in a movie, I'm gonna make sure you walk away entertained.' "
"And then personally, the one thing that he kept saying was, 'Take it all in, just sit in it, take it all in, store it, put it in the back of your head and just make sure you're present and with your castmates.' And I think every single one of us did it," Ellis recalls.
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PEOPLE also spoke to Stranger Things star Cara Buono at the screening, who quipped when asked if she was a fan of the original 1986 Top Gun movie growing up, "Who wasn't?!"
"But think about Tom Cruise's career, and it's just really remarkable," she adds. "Like, he just is a consummate movie star, such a great actor."
"And I think we almost take it for granted because he is such a movie star," Buono says.
Top Gun: Maverick flies into theaters Friday.
