After loosing Goose, Sundown becomes Maverick’s radar intercept officer, but the latter is still too distraught to continue flying. Gilyard’s participation in this film was brief, as it was his Hollywood debut, but with time, new opportunities would come for the rookie.

That same year he would be part of Karate Kid: Part II, Die Hard and the first two installments of Forgotten were some of his most outstanding roles. Gilyard appeared in some TV series and films, the most recent being Christmas on the Coast in 2018.