What bubbly blonde played the wife of "Goose" in "Top Gun"?

Meg Ryan played Carole Bradshaw, the wife of “Goose,” in Top Gun. Goose’s full name is Nick Bradshaw, the naval flight officer and radar intercept officer who serves alongside Tom Cruise’s Maverick.

Released in 1986, Top Gun was a major star-making film for Ryan, Tom Cruise, and Anthony Edwards, who played Goose. Ryan’s part is relatively small, but Carole’s relationship with Goose gives the film an important emotional dimension, especially after Goose’s death during a training accident.

The character is sometimes confused with other memorable women in the film, including Kelly McGillis’s civilian flight instructor Charlotte “Charlie” Blackwood. Ryan later became best known for romantic comedies such as When Harry Met Sally... and Sleepless in Seattle, but Top Gun came before that phase of her career.

Carole and Goose’s family also matter in the sequel Top Gun: Maverick. Their son, Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, is played by Miles Teller, and the younger Bradshaw’s complicated history with Maverick drives much of the sequel’s story.