--- name: "Kelly McGillis" canonical: "https://film.one/person/kelly-mcgillis" fi1m_id: "kelly-mcgillis" imdb_id: "nm0000534" tmdb_id: 11084 wikidata_id: "Q229147" roles: ["Actor"] born: "9 July 1957" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_fi1m_score: 78 average_as: "actor" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-09-17T18:35:39.478094+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Kelly McGillis ## Identity Kelly McGillis - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/kelly-mcgillis - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** kelly-mcgillis - **IMDb ID:** nm0000534 - **TMDB ID:** 11084 - **Wikidata ID:** Q229147 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_McGillis, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q229147, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000534/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/11084 Actor. Born 9 July 1957 in Newport Beach, California, USA. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 9 July 1957, Newport Beach, California, USA - **Active:** 1985–1986 - **Also known as:** Kelly Ann McGillis - **Average Fi1m score:** 78, as actor, over 2 titles - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_McGillis, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q229147, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000534/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/11084 ## Streaming the US now - **Tubi:** [*Witness*](https://film.one/film/witness.md) (84) - **Hulu:** [*Top Gun*](https://film.one/film/top-gun.md) (71) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Kelly McGillis > Kelly McGillis can make a quiet exchange feel equally important to both people in it. We value her restraint in *Witness*, where Rachel’s feelings carry as much weight as Harrison Ford’s uncertainty. In *Witness* (1985), Kelly McGillis looks at Harrison Ford and lets us see Rachel weighing the attraction without spelling it out. She gives the woman’s feelings the same importance as the policeman’s uncertainty, so the romance never feels like a diversion arranged for him. We were moved by those exchanges because both actors make the possibility of getting closer seem to require care. Peter Weir gives them a romance worth watching even when the crime story starts reaching for familiar answers. That performance was her breakthrough, following her film debut in *Reuben, Reuben* (1983). *Top Gun* (1986) brought wider recognition and the role of Charlie Blackwood; in *The Accused* (1988), she played prosecutor Kathryn Murphy opposite Jodie Foster. Her casting has often favoured intelligent, independent women, but the category is too broad to explain the work. In *Witness*, McGillis lets Rachel be reserved without becoming remote, and keeps us interested in her response rather than simply waiting for Ford to act. Thom Noble’s editing helps: he allows the quiet passages to last, giving McGillis and Ford time to register their feelings without making each pause solemn. Maurice Jarre’s music is less reliable, sometimes pressing for an emotion the actors have already supplied. We would rather the score gave them more room. The thriller is less convincing than the courtship, but that is a fault in the film around McGillis, not a reason to discount her performance. Her work moved away from major studios in the 1990s, with a return to the stage, including Shakespeare, and a later shift into independent and horror films. *Stake Land* (2010), *The Innkeepers* (2011) and *We Are What We Are* (2013) belong to that later stretch. Those credits make a career described only through *Top Gun* look rather incomplete. Start with *Witness*, and give its silences as much attention as its investigation. ## Biography Kelly Ann McGillis is an American actress. She was born on 9 July 1957 in Newport Beach, California, and trained at the Juilliard School, graduating in 1983. McGillis made her film debut in *Reuben, Reuben* (1983). Her breakthrough came with the role of Rachel Lapp in *Witness* (1985), for which she received Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations. She next played Charlie in *Top Gun* (1986). Subsequent film roles include Kathryn Murphy in *The Accused* (1988). In later years she appeared in horror films such as *Stake Land* (2010), *The Innkeepers* (2011) and *We Are What We Are* (2013). *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (2) - *Top Gun* (1986), Fi1m 71, as Charlie — [page](https://film.one/film/top-gun.md) - *Witness* (1985), Fi1m 84, as Rachel — [page](https://film.one/film/witness.md) ## Complete filmography (54) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Maternal Secrets* (2018), as Rose - *What Could Have Been* (2017), as Margaret - *An Uncommon Grace* (2017), as Elizabeth Conner - *Blue* (2015), as Ms. Hutcherson - *Z Nation* (2014), series, as Helen - *Love Finds You In Sugarcreek* (2014), as Bertha Troyler - *Grand Street* (2014), as Isabelle - *We Are What We Are* (2013), as Marge - *Tio Papi* (2013), as Elizabeth Warden - *The Innkeepers* (2012), as Leanne Jones - *Stake Land: Sister* (2011), as Sister - *1 a Minute* (2010), as Narrator (voice) - *Stake Land* (2010), as Sister - *Black Widower* (2009), as Nancy Westveld - *Supergator* (2007), as Kim Taft - *The L Word* (2004), series, as Colonel Gillian Davis - *Morgan's Ferry* (2001), as Vonnie Carpenter - *No One Can Hear You* (2001), as Trish Burchall - *The Monkey's Mask* (2001), as Diana Maitland - *Buzz Lightyear of Star Command* (2000), series, as Gorgeous Woman (voice) - *The Settlement* (1999), as Fake Barbara / Ellie - *At First Sight* (1999), as Jennie Adamson - *The Wild Thornberrys* (1998), series, as Winema (voice) - *Ground Control* (1998), as Susan Stratton - *Painted Angels* (1998), as Nettie - *Perfect Prey* (1998), as Audrey Macleah - *Storm Chasers: Revenge of the Twister* (1998), as Jamie Marshall - *The Third Twin* (1997), series, as Jean Ferrami - *We the Jury* (1996), as Alyce Bell - *Remember Me* (1995), as Menly Nichols - *The Outer Limits* (1995), series, as Nicole Whitley - *North* (1994), as Amish Mom - *In the Best of Families: Marriage, Pride & Madness* (1994), as Susie Lynch - *There's Good Weather in Deribasovskaya, Or It's Raining Again in Brighton Beach* (1993), as Marriott Manager - *Bonds of Love* (1993), as Rose Parks - *The Babe* (1992), as Claire Ruth - *Rabbit Ears - Noah and the Ark* (1991), as Narrator (voice) - *Grand Isle* (1991), as Edna Pontellier · Co-Producer - *Cat Chaser* (1989), as Mary DeBoya - *Winter People* (1989), as Collie Wright - *Rabbit Ears - Thumbelina* (1989), as Narrator (voice) - *The Accused* (1988), as Kathryn Murphy - *The House on Carroll Street* (1988), as Emily - *Santabear's High Flying Adventure* (1987), as Missy Bear (voice) - *Made in Heaven* (1987), as Annie Packert / Ally Chandler - *The Dreamers* (1987), as Anda - *Santabear's First Christmas* (1986), as Narrator - *Top Gun* (1986), as Charlie — Fi1m 71, [page](https://film.one/film/top-gun.md) - *Private Sessions* (1985), as Jennifer Coles - *Witness* (1985), as Rachel — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/witness.md) - *Sweet Revenge* (1984), as Katherine Dennison Breen - *Reuben, Reuben* (1983), as Geneva Spofford - *Live from Lincoln Center* (1976), series, Actor - *Journey to Planet Earth*, series, Actor ## Gallery - ![Kelly McGillis](https://film.one/media/person/118344/gallery-ad716738a323.jpg) Kelly McGillis — gdcgraphics at https://www.flickr.com/photos/gdcgraphics/, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/KellyMcGillisSept10TIFF.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Toronto International Film Festival 2010. (2011)](https://film.one/media/person/118344/gallery-7a026f2c3305.jpg) Toronto International Film Festival 2010. (2011) — Gordon Correll, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Kelly_McGillis_%285644034115%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Photograph of actress Kelly McGillis on the set of the film, Witness, May 11, 1984.](https://film.one/media/person/118344/gallery-ed6ce1438e2f.jpg) Photograph of actress Kelly McGillis on the set of the film, Witness, May 11, 1984. — Sarah Leen for the The Philadelphia Inquirer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/Kelly_McGillis_on_the_set_of_Witness_%281984%29.jpg/1280px-Kelly_McGillis_on_the_set_of_Witness_%281984%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Kelly McGillis, Ambyr Childers, Bill Sage, Jim Mickle, Julia Garner," We Are What We Are" , Social Lodge Sundance 2013 Presented By Canada California Business ](https://film.one/media/person/118344/gallery-94acc500bbfc.jpg) Kelly McGillis, Ambyr Childers, Bill Sage, Jim Mickle, Julia Garner," We Are What We Are" , Social Lodge Sundance 2013 Presented By Canada California Business — RealTVfilms, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/We_Are_What_We_Are_interview_on_RealTVFilms.jpg/1280px-We_Are_What_We_Are_interview_on_RealTVFilms.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Kelly McGillis](https://film.one/media/person/118344/gallery-efdadae25ecc.jpg) Kelly McGillis — Image via TMDB - ![Kelly McGillis](https://film.one/media/person/118344/gallery-591e30d2b1c4.jpg) Kelly McGillis — Image via TMDB - ![Kelly McGillis](https://film.one/media/person/118344/gallery-552ea42f211d.jpg) Kelly McGillis — Image via TMDB - ![Kelly McGillis](https://film.one/media/person/118344/gallery-e57c9bd5e3c5.jpg) Kelly McGillis — Image via TMDB - ![Kelly McGillis](https://film.one/media/person/118344/gallery-4045ae99049c.jpg) Kelly McGillis — Image via TMDB - ![Kelly McGillis](https://film.one/media/person/118344/gallery-b15105422399.jpg) Kelly McGillis — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/kelly-mcgillis