Hollywood legend Bill Pullman made a rare appearance with his son, Top Gun: Maverick star Lewis Pullman, at the 2026 Oscars.
“Film editing can seem like it’s an invisible art form,” Bill, 72, said while taking the Dolby Theatre stage in Hollywood on Sunday, March 15. “But behind the scenes, the editors are always shaping the story.”
Lewis, 33, quipped, “Yeah, kind of like growing up with a famous dad.”
The comment received laughs from the audience.
“But I didn’t really shape anything. I stayed behind the scenes,” Bill responded. “I did think that there would be a place for you in livestock management. That didn’t really work out.”
Lewis joked that he was “a big disappointment there” before Bill praised his son for doing “just fine” all on his own.
“Thank you for saying that. We’re lucky. Turns out audiences don’t always, you know, mind the sequel,” Lewis said. Bill added, “I hope that they like the sequel even more than the original, a little more.”
Lewis concluded, “Well, the jury is still out.”
The father-and-son duo were all smiles when they presented Andy Jurgensen with the award for Best Film Editing for One Battle After Another .
Lewis, 33, is the youngest of Bill, 72, and his wife Tamara Hurwitz’s three children. (The couple also share singer-songwriter Maesa, 38, and creative artist Jack, 37.)
While Bill and Lewis rarely make public appearances together, they will soon share the big screen in the long-awaited Spaceballs 2. Bill reprises his role as Lone Starr from the 1987 comedy while Lewis will play the character’s son Starburst. (Lewis previously worked with his dad on the 2017 Western thriller The Ballad of Lefty Brown, which was an early breakthrough for him.)
Speaking exclusively to Us Weekly in December 2025, Lewis beamed about getting “so much great and valuable guidance” from his dad throughout his career.
“He doesn’t give me straight up advice. He sort of leads by example and through storytelling,” Lewis told Us. “He doesn’t want to stand in the way of me finding a path that is my own, and very conscious of the fact that we’re different people with different tendencies and how we grow is different. I don’t know how I’d be able to do anything without him. I love him so much.”
That same month, Bill opened up to Us about his son Lewis making “diverse” career choices. (Lewis filmed screwball comedy Spaceballs 2 shortly after making the religious drama The Testament of Ann Lee.)
“I’m really amazed that he’s having very diverse choices about what movies he’s involved in,” Bill declared. “And that he was very excited to be part of [The Testament of Ann Lee], which is an adventurous movie.”
Bill later shared that he tried to never overwhelm or pressure Lewis about the types of roles he should take.
“He remembers [my advice] better than I do,” Bill told Us. “I remember trying not to say things that will throw him off track, but he has got a strong rudder in the water himself that I think is really good.”
Lewis is busier than ever with five movies hitting the big screen over the next two years alone. He will venture back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in December for Avengers: Doomsday after debuting as the cosmic hero Sentry in 2025’s Thunderbolts*.
He currently has a South By Southwest Film Festival hit on his hands after his sci-fi comedy Wishful Thinking debuted in Austin, Texas, earlier this week. Also on the horizon for Lewis will be the Netflix thriller Remarkably Bright Creatures later this year before Spaceballs 2 and sports drama Baton arrive in 2027.
Meanwhile, Bill recently wrapped production on the upcoming comedy Famous, which stars Zac Efron as a 38-year-old loser who poses as a world-famous movie star to make his dreams come true. Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor, Succession actor Nicholas Braun and Insatiable’s Debby Ryan will also appear in Famous.
