Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton is known to be fond of the entertainment industry.
The seven-time F1 world champion has even spoken in the past about his desire to seriously get involved in it once his racing days come to an end.
The 37-year-old has now revealed one of the most disappointing phone calls he has had to make in his life.
After initially contacting Tom Cruise to get any sort of role in his movie Top Gun: Maverick, Hamilton was later forced to inform Cruise that he won’t be able to play the role of a fighter pilot in his movie.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Hamilton revealed just how thrilled he was when he landed the role but also expressed his disappointment at not being able to feature in the movie due to his Formula 1 commitments.
“Basically I’m a friend of Tom [Cruise],” Hamilton said.
“One of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. He invited me to his set years ago when he was doing ‘Edge of Tomorrow’, and then we just built a friendship over time.
“When I heard the second one was coming out, I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I have to ask him’. I said ‘I don’t care what role it is. I’ll even sweep something, be a cleaner in the back’,” he said.
Although Hamilton was initially overjoyed to star in such a big blockbuster, he had to let go of this dream due to the meticulous training he has to undergo to perform well in F1.
“I’m a perfectionist,” he said.
“There just wasn’t time. It was the most upsetting call that I think I’ve ever had.”
Hamilton dives into Hollywood world
This doesn’t signal an end to Hamilton’s interest in Hollywood and the racer will produce a movie based on Formula 1 that features Brad Pitt.
Interestingly, the movie is going to be led by the same director as Top Gun: Maverick, Joseph Kosinski.
When asked about his future plans, Hamilton explained how he is “still on a mission”.
“I’ll be lying if I said that I hadn’t thought about extending,” he said.
“I’m still on the mission, I’m still loving driving, I’m still being challenged by it. So I don’t really feel like I have to give it up anytime soon.”
Things have not gone so well for Hamilton on the track this year, with the Mercedes driver failing to win a single race this season while rival Max Verstappen looks to be on course to make it successive world championships.
When will Hamilton retire from F1?
With many illustrious drivers from Hamilton’s era either retired or on the verge of calling it quits, Hamilton was asked about how long he believes he will stay in the sport.
“It doesn’t make me think about my future, but it is a reminder that I am in that part of my career that people I came up with and have raced for so long will start to stop,” Hamilton said.
“Before you know it Fernando Alonso will not be here, and then who is there after that? I guess I will be the oldest.
“But I am thinking about how I can improve this car, what steps we need to take to get this team winning again, what is the road map to claiming another world championship, and what we need to do to have everyone in this sport more aligned, in terms of diversity.”
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