In the late‑’80s, Kelly McGillis was Hollywood’s golden girl - the actress everyone wanted, the next big Oscar contender, and the glam bombshell lighting up every red carpet.
From igniting sparks in blockbuster Top Gun to gripping audiences in the thriller Witness and the intense drama The Accused, she proved she could do it all on the big screen.
She shared sizzling chemistry with heavyweights like and - smoldering as their love interest - and held her own opposite the legendary in Winter People and alongside John Goodman in The Babe.
Yet just when it seemed her star would only rise, by the late 1990s she to raise a family in Key West and later , trading big movies for small‑town life.
Fans were left wondering why she nearly vanished from the spotlight, but McGillis has since opened up about the hard truths behind her retreat.
Through rare interviews over the years, she’s opened up about shocking early assaults and her journey toward embracing her sexual identity.
In the late‑’80s, Kelly McGillis was Hollywood’s golden girl - the actress everyone wanted, the next big Oscar contender, and the glam bombshell lighting up every red carpet; (McGillis with Tom Cruise in Top Gun in 1986)
From igniting sparks in blockbuster Top Gun to gripping audiences in the thriller Witness (pictured) and the intense drama The Accused, she proved she could do it all on the big screen
Long before her rise to stardom, McGillis endured horrific attacks, including a brutal break-in while she was in her twenties.
She had been mugged at gunpoint a year earlier, and in a separate incident, two men forced their way into her New York apartment.
McGillis tackled drama in The Accused
McGillis expressed disappointment at being left out of 2022's Top Gun: Maverick
The couple had two daughters, but the marriage suffered under McGillis’ battles with addiction and her struggle to accept her sexual identity.
