'Top Gun: Maverick' director says he was nervous to hear Lady Gaga's song for the movie because he was worried he wouldn't like it
- Director Joseph Kosinski told Insider he was anxious hearing the Lady Gaga song for the first time.
- He was afraid because if he didn't like it, "how do you say no thank you to Lady Gaga?"
The long-awaited "Top Gun" sequel "Top Gun: Maverick" hits theaters later this month, along with a love ballad that Lady Gaga made just for the movie.
However, director Joseph Kosinski admitted to Insider that he initially wasn't sure a Gaga track would make sense in a Tom Cruise action movie.
"It was nerve-racking to hear that song for the first time," Kosinski told Insider, recalling hearing a demo of the track while sitting next to "Top Gun" franchise producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
"We went over to the record label, and you're almost afraid you're not going to like it, because how do you say no thank you to Lady Gaga?"
Kosinski said that numerous record labels threw their hats in the ring once Paramount, the studio behind the "Top Gun" franchise, let it be known it was looking for an original song to be featured in "Maverick."
Gaga, who's a fan of the original movie, quickly became the frontrunner with a demo of the original song, "Hold My Hand."
"As soon as we heard the song it was like, wow, that is a classic melody. That is fantastic," Kosinski said. "Even in demo form."
Kosinski and Bruckheimer knew instantly that "Hold My Hand" would be featured, but eventually Gaga's song became even more ingrained into the movie thanks to its legendary composer, Hans Zimmer.
"When Hans heard it he was like, 'I can use this as a theme for the movie,'" Kosinski said. "He worked it into his orchestral score. So it's much more than just a song in the movie. It's all over the theme of the film."
Thanks to songs like Berlin's "Take My Breath Away" and Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone" the soundtrack is one of the all-time greats and topped the Billboard charts for weeks when the movie opened in 1986.
The sequel, which picks up on Cruise's character 30 years later, hits theaters on May 27.