Tom Cruise paid tribute to Val Kilmer after his Top Gun costar’s death at age 65.
“I’d like to honor a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer, for a moment,” Cruise, 62, began during an appearance at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday, April 3. “I can’t tell you how much I admired his work.”
The actor asked the audience to join him in a moment of silence: “If we just all take a moment to remember the wonderful time we had with him — let’s just take a moment.” He concluded, “I wish you well on your next journey.”
Kilmer died of pneumonia on Tuesday, April 1, his daughter, Mercedes, confirmed to The New York Times. He had previously been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 but later recovered, according to Mercedes.
After the news broke of Kilmer’s death, tributes poured in from his former costars. Cruise and Kilmer famously portrayed rival fighter pilots Pete “Maverick” Mitchell and Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in the 1986 blockbuster film Top Gun. Thirty-six years later, Kilmer made a cameo in the 2022 sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, reprising his role alongside Cruise in his final onscreen performance.
In February 2023, Cruise reflected on his meaningful reunion with Kilmer.
“I just want to say that was pretty emotional,” Cruise recalled during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live at the time. “I’ve known Val for decades, and for him to come back and play that character … he’s such a powerful actor that he instantly became that character again.”
Cruise added that while filming the scene where Maverick sought advice from his former rival turned wingman, he felt like “you’re just looking at Iceman.”
“I was crying, I was crying. I got emotional,” he said. “He’s such a brilliant actor, I love his work.”
Kilmer, for his part, told People in 2022 that reprising the role of Iceman was “like being reunited with a long lost friend.”
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“The characters never really go away,” he added. “They live on in deep freeze. If you’ll pardon the pun.”
In his 2020 memoir, I’m Your Huckleberry, Kilmer revealed that he tried to pass on Top Gun, which became one of the defining projects of his career.
“I didn’t want the part. I didn’t care about the film. The story didn’t interest me,” he wrote. “My agent, who also represented Tom Cruise, basically tortured me into at least meeting [director] Tony Scott.”
While Kilmer agreed to audition, he “showed up looking the fool” and “read the lines indifferently.” However, he still got the part and ultimately ended up loving his experience.
“My main joy was the camaraderie of the cast, [producers] Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, along with the incredible, unflappable enthusiasm of Tony Scott and Tom Cruise,” Kilmer told People.
Of his offscreen dynamic with Cruise, Kilmer said, “I am happy to announce we have home movies to prove how much fun we had!”
