Goose's son, Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, was played by Miles Teller in Top Gun: Maverick, but that's not who portrayed him in the original movie. In Top Gun, Bradley was brought to life by identical twins named Aaron and Adam Weis who have since moved on from acting. Instead, Thank You For Your Service and Fantastic Four star Miles Teller was cast as the son of Maverick's Top Gun co-pilot, Goose (Anthony Edwards).
Nick "Goose" Bradshaw was an important character in the original movie, and both his wife and son were present throughout. Meg Ryan, whose career had yet to take off at this time, played Goose's wife, Carole. Goose's son, Bradley, is best-remembered for the line, "goodness, gracious, great balls of fire." The child was around four years old during the events of Top Gun but was well into his thirties when he appeared in Top Gun: Maverick 34 years later, in which he played a much more central role.
Top Gun 2: Hangman Is Maverick’s Real Successor (Not Rooster)
But what happened to the original twin child actors who played Bradley Bradshaw in the first movie? According to Aaron and Adam Weis, neither was contacted about reprising the role, and the reason for that is quite simple: The Weis twins are no longer acting, and are now in the teaching profession (via San Diego Union-Tribune). Aaron Weis is a sixth-grade teacher, while Adam is a fifth-grade teacher. Their only other acting appearance outside Top Gun was a SeaWorld commercial with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Also, the Weis twins weren't even credited in Top Gun and were counted as extras.
Why Goose's Son Was Recast In Top Gun: Maverick
Naturally, the studio wanted a known actor with experience to play an important role like Rooster in Top Gun: Maverick. Based on the fact that the Weis twins didn't pursue careers in acting, this is one case where bringing back the original actor wasn't an option that the studio could have explored. Regardless, their absence was another example of how much the cast changed for Top Gun: Maverick, which only featured two familiar faces: Tom Cruise's Maverick and Val Kilmer's Iceman.
How Top Gun 2 Rooster Actor Miles Teller Contributed To The Film's Success
For all the reasons it made sense to recast the original Bradley actors, Miles Teller was an especially good choice to take their place in Top Gun: Maverick. The heart of the movie focuses on Rooster and Maverick's dynamic and how they process their shared trauma over Goose's death, which makes the role all the more important. Miles Teller's powerhouse performance illustrates clearly that he was the perfect actor for the job as he's easily one of the best parts of the box-office record breaker Top Gun: Maverick, making it a stirring, propulsive film rather than a directionless, unnecessary sequel.
The movie worked because it chose storytelling over the dopamine hits of seeing recognizable characters from Top Gun, and Rooster's foregrounding and recasting were key elements of that. Casting an original film's child actors in grown-up roles can be satisfying for audiences, as was the case with Fuller House, but it can just as often go poorly, as per Sofia Coppola's uninspiring turn as Mary Corleone in The Godfather Part III. Had one or both of the Weis twins returned to play Bradley Bradshaw (and had they even been recognizable three decades on), any familiarity would probably have been overshadowed by a lack of recent practice in the craft. Miles Teller, on the other hand, is a seasoned, skilled performer, and he was absolutely the right choice for Top Gun: Maverick.