LAKE ORION, Mich. (WXYZ) — The new sequel “Top Gun: Maverick” set a box office record for Memorial Day weekend, marking the biggest box office debut in Tom Cruise’s career.

As you watch the Hollywood star fly through the sky in an F-18, you might be surprised to learn that one of the real pilots at the controls was a graduate of Lake Orion High School and Eastern Michigan University, who first learned to fly in Southeast Michigan.

“There is CGI elements, but everything that’s CGI is based on a practical shot,” explained U.S. Naval Pilot Lt. Cmdr. Christian Frasher.

Frasher, a Lake Orion native, spent roughly six weeks back in 2019 filming for “Top Gun: Maverick,” sharing his cockpit with the stars of the film like Miles Teller, Glen Powell and Tom Cruise.

“They do that Hollywood magic where they’re looking at the actors in the back seat and they’re looking forward at the pilot, the actual pilot in the front seat, and then they do the editing and it looks like they’re flying,” Frasher explained. “Tom Cruise never flew an airplane. They did a really good job making him look like it.”

Frasher attended Eastern Michigan’s collegiate flight program, training first at Willow Run Airport before eventually flying in front of Hollywood cameras, doubling as Cruise.

“I saw the back of my head,” Frasher said with a smile, recounting his first viewing of the film. “I saw the back of my head with a little hair piece they glued on the back of my hair to make me look like Maverick.”

During his time on set, Frasher says he also gave creative input, watching scenes and giving feedback to the actors.

“What we were noticing right away was the only actor that looked comfortable in an airplane was Tom Cruise,” Frasher said. “So I had this idea, hey, why don’t we take them up? We don’t have to film anything, take them up in the back seat of an F-18 and get them more comfortable. So we went up there and did that for Miles and I don’t know, I think it worked out. He ended up looking pretty good in the movie.”

While working with all the actors, Frasher says they were able to bond and chat, talking to Cruise about his plane.

“When we finally got in the cockpit together, I was like ‘Dude, I’m going to call you Maverick, you can call me Griff. There’s no rank in the cockpit and we’re going to get this done’ and he really loved that,” Frasher said of his first conversation with Cruise. “As we’re flying out to area to do the scenes and stuff, we just talked about his P-52 Mustang. I remember talking about driftwood as we were coming back to land.”

While his name may not be in the credits, Frasher’s work is certainly seen in the end product. It was an experience he’ll remember for the rest of his life.

“Kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, which is why I was so adamant in making it the best that we could,” Frasher said. “Super proud of it.”