CASTING NEWS: Jay Ellis will play a pilot in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

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Even though fans of Jay Ellis are still salty that the won’t appear on this season of Insecure, they can look forward to seeing him on the big screen thanks to his new gig.

According to Deadline, the actor has been cast as a pilot in the upcoming film Top Gun: Maverick. He will be joined by a huge cast that includes Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit), Charles Parnell (A Million Little Pieces), Bashir Salahuddin (GLOW), Danny Ramirez (Assassination Nation), and Monica Barbaro (The Good Cop) opposite Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Glen Powell, Jennifer Connelly and Miles Teller.

2018 ABFF celebrity ambassador, Jay Ellis, on celebrating Black movies and what’s in store for “Lawrence” on HBO’s ‘Insecure’

Jay Ellis shared the good news on social media and his Insecure cast mates couldn’t wait to congratulate him.

“You can be my wing man anytime, ” he posted.

His pal, Issa Rae seemed especially excited by the news. “YOOOOOOOOOO! YOU DID IT!!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!! CONGRATS!!!,” she replied.

https://twitter.com/IssaRae/status/1032074241070395392

Jay Ellis also appears alongside Meagan Good and Omari Hardwick in their film, A Boy, A Girl, A Dream: Love on Election Night and recently serves at Ambassador at the 2018 American Black Film Festival in Miami.

“Being this year’s ambassador, it’s a big deal. I get to follow in the footsteps of some really amazing people who have kind of been a part of the ABFF family for a very long time…You’ve got Anthony Anderson, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Morris Chestnut—Mr. Smooth himself—so getting to be a part of that is special,” says Ellis.

“It’s just really amazing to be able to bring all these people together,” says Ellis. “And then you ultimately end up seeing dudes like Ryan Coogler, who’s first short [film] won at ABFF so many years ago and then Steven Caple Jr., who’s short [film] won the year after. So much of our core audience is ABFF. They are the people we are inspired by and make these projects for.”