Tom Cruise
It's funny -- I watch Top Gun now, and I don't think of Tom Cruise as looking particularly young; he just looks like Tom Cruise. But I see this photo, and he looks like a kid at a school dance, hands jammed in pockets, trying to sort out whether to wait for a slow song to make his move. I honestly keep checking to make sure this is from Top Gun and not something else, but it apparently is.
I realized you couldn't see Tom's hair well in the last photo, and this is the best I've got. I don't know who the woman is -- I'll admit my first thought was "Scientology handler" -- but amusingly, when you can only see this half of her face, she looks a LOT like Michelle Williams; in reality, she looks nothing like Michelle. ANYWAY. There is Tom's mop top.
Val Kilmer
Oh, Iceman. I think you are the hero of the piece. You are RIGHT. Maverick is a loon.
Anthony Edwards
And oh, GOOSE, you big stuuuuud. (Where is Meg Ryan?!?) I rather stupidly had the thought, "It's too bad they couldn't get Anthony Edwards for the sequel." HELLO. THE PLOT. No kidding they didn't use him, Heather.
Hey, it's Tony-winner Cady Huffman (The Producers). Were they dating?!? Also, fun fact, Anthony Edwards has been a licensed private pilot for 10 years. Goose got the last laugh.
Jon Cryer
Little did he know that five years later, he'd be starring in a Top Gun parody called Hot Shots (with his future Two and a Half Men co-star Charlie Sheen, no less).
Jodie Foster and Jennifer Beals
These old photos show how movie premieres were MUCH less of a production back then, including the photo setups. This is from an afterparty and could not be a less attractive backdrop. They look like Jennifer just bailed Jodie out of prison.
Kevin Bacon and Tracy Pollan
I always forget they dated until we do one of these. They honestly kind of look related here.
Aidan Quinn
His eyes match his shirt.
Mary Hart
YES MARY. Those 80s bangs, that silver coat. She is a beacon of the decade.
Mary Kay Place
She is not in Top Gun, but I've just now written a deleted arc in my head where she's Kelly McGillis's disapproving sassy mother who saunters in and puts Maverick in his place and then leaves... but eventually warms to him, because the script says so.
Stephanie Zimbalist
The fourth (and penultimate) season of Remington Steele had just aired, if that helps anchor you in the Zimbalist Cinematic Universe. Those earrings, and the fact that they kind of match her jacket, are also peak 80s.
Andy Warhol
And I very much enjoy that Andy Warhol was lined up to get into the afterparty, holding multiple copies of I don't even KNOW what.